The Crimson Star
by Inuzuka Akari
Summary: An outlaw gang have been causing trouble for years. They made a mistake ten years ago that a particular gunslinger hasn't forgotten. She wants revenge. Can an angel in disguise save her from the point of no return before time runs out? AU H
1. Cold Steel

Author's Note: I do not have any rights to any of the Sailor Moon characters. They officially belong to Naoko Takeuchi. All other characters are of my own creation. Some famous outlaw names or other famous names may appear, they are only in reference to the old west legends and lore.

I started writing this out of the blue the other day and have no idea where I'm headed with it. The story seems to have a mind of it's own so I do hope you enjoy the ride. I have decided to rate this particular piece **M **for future situations regarding violence, language and of course the romance that is H&M. Reviews are greatly welcomed. Now settle back and enjoy. ^^

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_Tick tock _

_Tick tock _

_Tick tock_

_Blong...Blong...Blong..._

Two figures stood in the middle of a dust filtering road of a rather crowded town. As the clock tower struck noon, both figures flicker their hands toward the cold handles of their pistols to try and shoot the other. Gun smoke filled the air as one figure managed to pull off a killing shot sending the other to a heap to the ground to bleed out. As the winds picked up, the faster hand closed cold and seemingly soulless green eyes. One less bad man would be terrorizing the small community town now that the gunslinger had struck. The witnesses all seemed to let out a sigh of relief upon seeing who won the gunfight.

The deceased had been a member of a dangerous gang of men lead by a man only known as Jackal. Because of his association to the gang, he had been long marked for death by the blonde. The gunslinger could cross off one name to the list that had slowly been shortening over the last three years since she began her quest. She held no time in her life to stay standing to stare at the corpse for long. After the moment he hit the ground, she had turned away and walked toward the saloon wanting a drink.

"Did you see that? I blinked and missed the shot." commented a young man on the board walk as Haruka moved into the saloon out of sight.

A man with a mustache smirked faintly. "That one in the black duster was quick. I've never seen anyone with a draw that fast."

"Hard to believe he ain't a Marshall."

"Feh, not everyone who can handle a gun is meant for that path."

"Yeah, but someone like that can take out a lot of evil in this world."

As the citizens chatted on about the rather quick gun fight, the main player in the game took a seat in the back of the saloon ignoring everyone and everything except a bottle of whiskey. A firm calloused hand grabbed the dingy bottle only to raise it to chapped lips where it tilted it upward. Hot and scorching pain rippled down from the tip of the tongue all the way down to the pit of the woman's stomach. The whiskey was a bitter and strong tasting liquor to her but it was one she had come to prefer over the years despite her body's protest. It became a habit of hers after a kill to have a few swigs of whiskey to drown out the doubts nagging at the back of her mind. Any human would have doubts after killing someone. The blonde had killed enough to no longer care about the death of someone from her faster bullet but rather, she cared about improving her skills. What if she could get faster? Could she stand against Jackal? Those were the thoughts trying to circle her brain as she sat drinking down the bottle of whiskey.

People chatted all about the man that had been gunned down so quickly and of course the survivor. The small town didn't often observe gun fights as they kept to the law seriously. Unfortunately, that didn't stop a few outlaws from entering their territory every now and again. The last ones to roll through had left the deceased behind after killing the sheriff in town as well as a few do gooders who made the mistake of getting too noisy with Jackal. Since that ordeal, they were very jumpy and skeptical of any figure looking dangerous entering their town. The blonde managed to get in good graces with everyone after her display with a gun that day. They all had stopped staring at her like some plague and were actually bragging on her skills. It was a drastic turn from their behavior when she first rode into the town an hour earlier.

A man near the bar smirked a bit noticing where she was sitting. He was an older male at perhaps fifty with ebony hair and a scruffy beard but he seemed to be pondering over something. His brow furrowed faintly in thought while her drummed his fingertips on the bar top. While other danced about drinking away in celebration of an outlaw slain, the law man was more interested in the gunslinger that had been faster. Pushing himself away from the drunks, the sheriff walked over toward the table where Haruka finally allowed the bottle to have a rest. Cold green eyes met calm and collected gray ones as the two stopped and only seemed to acknowledge each other in the noisy surroundings.

"You were fast with that draw of yours, Gun." murmured the law.

The blonde remained stone faced while watching his body movements. "It's how you survive in these parts."

"Such a serious tone of voice there. You must not often get time to let your hands handle other items."

"What would you care, sheriff? I ain't one of your civilians." growled the woman faintly. She was getting faintly annoyed with idle chatter without substance.

"I have a right to be curious of outsiders to this town of mine, gunslinger. Even if you took out a dangerous outlaw, you are still playing with fire showing your skills like that."

The blonde shrugged grabbing the bottle in hand before taking a long swig of the drink. The sheriff observed her wondering what was going on inside of that head of hers.

"I'm only dangerous to those that provoke me. That man brought that bullet on himself and everyone here saw it was a fair fight. So if you are trying to arrest me for something, find a crime I committed first." the drinker grumbled.

The sheriff reached into his shirt pocket and calmly tossed something onto the table surface in front of the blonde. The gun woman glanced toward the shining piece of silver metal and then back toward the man. The badge glistened in the pale light of the saloon but the blonde didn't make a motion to touch it. Her green eyes lingered over it for a moment as she glanced back to it. A badge no doubt showing the integrity of the law behind it. Anyone who wore it bore their souls on their guns. People of the law had to rely upon sheer skill and instinct to survive when taking in prisoners. The moral code was melded into the fiber of their being in order to pursue the greater good.

The woman grunted soon taking the last fifth of the whiskey bottle on a burning journey.

"Take it. Your skill level is above all others I have seen. You deserve that badge." remarked the sheriff.

Slamming the base of the empty bottle onto the table, the blonde sneered toward him not bothering to hide her displeasure. "It's worthless to me." came the bitter cold response.

The man seemed stunned a bit hearing her words and soon glared a bit toward her. "It isn't worthless. Do you have any idea what the badge signifies?" he growled obviously offended by her choice words.

"It ain't what I am." she responded darkly while rising to her feet. "You best save that for someone who will stick around and do it proper justice. I'm leaving this town and moving on."

"Just where are you going then? You keep going and gunning down people eventually you'll turn into a murderer." he warned. "When that time comes, you best remember my face."

"Save your preaching for someone who gives a damn, sheriff." responded the gunslinger.

The two exchanged firm glares before the woman took her leave brushing past him. He turned and watched the ebony coated figure exit the saloon ignoring the cheers for her from admirers. No one seemed to notice the cold air that filtered into the hot building as she left expect for him. Ice was what it reminded him of as a chill went down his spine. Goosebumps even formed upon his forearms as his eyes remained on the swinging doors which remained rocking on their hinges. The badge remained on the table left alongside the empty bottle no longer glinting. It had long since turned dull.

Haruka was a complicated woman and one many people didn't quite understand. While people in the town took their chances guessing on her background, not matter were even close in uncovering her intentions of appearing out of the blue. She chuckled faintly to herself as she walked to the stable hearing children shout toward her in praise. They were far to innocent to realize the true intentions her guns were loaded for. Never once did she stop to think of all the people in the town that had been terrorized by the man she had killed. Her only thoughts remained on something long since passed from her background which was better off left undisturbed in her memory.

The gun woman soon stopped in her movements only to bend down a moment to the spot where blood was still soaked into the dust where the corpse had fallen.

A feral grin formed upon her lips as she reached out to touch the stained dirt. "One more falls from your ranks." she chuckled.

The laughter grew in volume as the winds picked up causing a bit of a whirlwind to circle around Haruka. She stood once more looking toward the sky while allowing herself to let out the wild laughter which came from the depths of her chest. Those who walked the streets looked toward her in worry hearing the maniacal sound rolling out of her mouth. Even the winds seemed to shiver from it as they whipped about lashing out against her long coat trying to hush the inhuman sound.

"Your time's coming." she whispered out softly.

Her laughter died off in the winds as she made it to the stable where her horse was sitting in wait. A blacksmith had been putting new shoes upon her steed's feet while she handled her business. The man had been eager to start the job as she paid him up front for his work. Not many people offered money right off the bat before the work was even started but the woman had to keep moving on. Haruka wasted no time mounting her horse to ride swiftly out of the small town. There were still fifteen men left on the list in her back pocket. It was an itch that needed to be scratched more and more lately. She had let it fester far too long allowing the infection to spread into the depths of her mind. The disease had a hold and was going to gradually expand over the course of time.


	2. Wild Fire

The troublesome band of outlaws had ransacked numerous towns and communities over the course of eleven years. No one was safe from their greed for money, booze and women. Members had come and gone from the ranks of the elite band of murderers; either from death or from fear of getting caught. The original members grew thin in numbers only accounting for up to five including the head bastard in charge himself. The gang had formed as a survival group of friends at first before it evolved over time into the murderous and sinful structure it was now.

They were simply a group of hellions that left destruction in their wake everywhere they went. Unfortunately in the last town they ransacked and attempted to burn, two of their members had been killed by a rifle wielding woman. Jackal had been long away from the gun fire when it happened, but he wouldn't forget the odd hair color of the young woman. He'd remember her unlike some other important people in his background of killings. When he left the town, he left three of his men under cover while ten rode off with him. Well, eight technically made it to their hideout in the badlands alive.

The men left behind merely drank their drinks in the whore house and watched the rifle woman closely. They had been rather shocked seeing the aqua haired woman pull out the rifle out of thin air, only to start opening fire on the gang. Grumbling, they continued to chat while keeping an eye on the woman. She had felt eyes lingering on her from the street but she ignored it. More important matters needed her attention and it included restocking on supplies for the ranch. Michiru merely shrugged off the odd feeling and moved into the general store to speak with the clerk about the amount of supplies she was getting. Owning a cattle ranch was a lot of work, but she had the time in the world to aid in her grandfather's business. He had grown recently ill and had sent for her to come out and help him where he could not get around. She agreed and moved out west where she seemed to flourish into a sharpshooter of her own right.

"Oh, Good morning miss Kaioh." murmured the clerk gently.

She smiled lightly and gave him a soft nod. "Same to you, Clark. Do you have what I ordered ready? I have a few men with me to help load up the wagon before making the trip back."

The young man gave a calm nod toward her. "Of course I do. Matter of fact, I'll help you load it up myself. Business has been slow since that gang rode into town." he admitted.

"That would be nice. Here, let me give you a hand as well." she remarked.

The two started carrying the lighter items out to fill up the medium sized wagon. Three ranch hands made it their business to handle the heavier items such as grain bags and large barrels of sugar and salts that were needed. It didn't seem to take long for the wagon to become full much to the liking of the ranch hands. They had been exhausted from running cattle the other night back into the proper pastures. Nonetheless, they jumped at the chance to ride into town to aid Michiru rather enjoying the time spent with the beauty. Of course they all minded their manners knowing full well she could handle a shot gun or a rifle at will, yet it didn't hurt to try and stay on her good side either.

"Hey, Michiru, would you mind if we got some drinks before we went ahead and started back?" inquired the elder of the three men, Dwight.

She turned from dusting off her trousers and gave a calm nod. "Go right on ahead, Dwight. Colton, try not to get too rowdy, and Dale, try to do the same." she chuckled.

The men gave their words they would behave and moved on acorss the street into the saloon to enjoy a few drinks of beer. They worked hard enough to deserve a drink or two and Michiru wasn't going to complain since they did do their lion share of the work on the ranch. She doubted her grandfather would mind if she gave a few men a bit of a break. Besides, the two young guns did well under the orders of the foreman, Dwight. Shrugging a bit, she moved to sit in the shade on the porch of the general store just watching the people move by minding her own business.

Meanwhile inside the saloon, the three men Jackal had left behind moved to watch the ranch hands. One even had the gall to approach Dwight to strike up a conversation while the other two snuck up behind Colton and Dale. The youngest of the group, Colton felt something was off and turned only to watch as pistols were drawn on their backs.

"You boys are gonna walk out of here nice and slow and slip out to the back of this place. We're gonna replace ya." growled one of the Jackals.

Dale closed his eyes praying they wouldn't be killed in the end though knew that was only wishful thinking. After exchanging a few looks between them, the ranch hands nodded and walked outside as if nothing was wrong and slipped out around back of the saloon. However as they were about to let the gang members grab them, Colton drew out his pistol and fired off his gun killing one man only to end up being gut shot himself. He winced falling on a post trying to fire off one last shot before the pain got to bad.

The sound of the gunfire rubbed Michiru the wrong way and it didn't take long for her to grab her rifle off the wagon and to run to the source of it all. By that time, Colton was dead and the Marshall was trying to take in the last two men who wounded Dwight. Dale was caught with a gun to his temple and was being used as bait much to his disliking. He didn't exactly want to die that day and simply went along with what the gang members wanted out of him.

"Let him go!" shouted Michiru firmly. She raised her rifle but couldn't get a clear shot at either of the men.

"I ain't about to let my pay ticket out of my hands, little girl." cackled the leader of the gang group.

The second man from the gang turned drawing his pistol up to fire toward Michiru. The woman ducked down behind a barrel fast enough to avoid a bullet to the shoulder. However, it managed to zoom through the barrel and grazed her right upper arm. She winced feeling the pain but tried to come up with a plan as she heard the Marshall fire off a few shots with his gun.

"Damnit...I'm stuck in a hard place and can't exactly protect Dwight or Dale. Bastards already got Colton." she hissed clenching her teeth together. Taking a chance, she looked beyond the barrel only to duck as another shot struck it sending splinters everywhere.

The two outlaws moved swiftly inside a building using people as shields causing the sheriff a hard time trying to get to them. Dale had been thrown onto the porch side left to bleed out from a wound to his left shoulder blade from the crossfire. He winced a bit but managed to get up to dash toward safety needing to see the resident doctor to get patched up. The people inside the building however did their best to avoid the random gun fire going on inside the building from the two outlaws. Some even tried to stop them only to end up with a bullet to their brains.

The outlaws ran up the stairs shooting out the windows before reaching a far side window in the back. They busted through it and managed to get onto the roof siding where they jumped only to land upon their horses. Turning their animals loose, they attempted to ride out of town only to end up sorely mistaken. A black duster wearing rider happened to be riding into the small town but took notice of the hasty riders. The rider fired off two shots from the guns on their waist and knocked the gang members straight off their steeds to the dust road below. Rolling, they cursed and grumbled before coming to stop only to slowly get up and notice the wounds in their legs. They were unable to run as a result of the bullets lodged in their upper thighs and both of them started cursing the other one out not taking notice of the gunslinger approaching them on horseback.

"I would suggest you to dirty mouthed sons of bitches get on your feet." growled the rider darkly. Emerald green eyes seemed to harden like cold steel as she watched the two.

The men slowly tried to stand and managed to until they heard shouting from behind them. Some of the townspeople were coming out to try and capture the two outlaws but it seemed they had been beaten to it. The gunslinger had both pistols aimed at the outlaws while they stood in wait for the sheriff to come and retrieve them. Cursing, the two men took a moment to glance over the rider. The elder of the two noticed the blonde hair beneath the ebony hat but also took a moment to study the figure. The mysterious rider looked like a man but in fact was a woman.

"You're that one that's been trying to kill of Jackal's gang ain't ya?" snapped the younger man. He turned his head away to spit out a bit of tobacco.

The rider merely allowed a faint smirk to cross her lips. "I'm just after the Devil is all." she murmured.

"Well then, you're plum insane, lady. That Devil will kill ya sure as sin."

"I wouldn't be jawing off much more if I were you two." she snarled pulling back the hammer on her guns.

The two men promptly shut their mouths and soon were grabbed from behind by two individuals. One of which was the sheriff while another was his deputy. The two lawmen handcuffed the men and took a moment to look toward the mysterious rider.

"We are in your debt, sir." murmured the Marshall smoothly.

The rider merely raised a brow. "Well if you believe that to be true, take the men into the jailhouse and let them heal up from those injuries. After which, let them be dealt with by me." she growled.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, sir. They are under arrest for murder and will be hanged first thing in the morning." murmured the deputy.

"It's a waist of good rope and wood to hang these two sons of bitches. I should have aimed higher to make em paint the ground with what little brains they got."

"We ain't gonna hang. We'll be out by nightfall, I promise ya all that." spat the elder gang member angrily as he and his partner were forced to walk into town with the lawmen.

The rider laughed a bit. "If they manage to get out, they're fair game for me to handle."


	3. Stranger with a Name

The civilians in the town watched with curiosity as the ebony rider emerged from the dusty road behind the lawmen as if watching the two prisoners. They were curious of the individual having never seen someone quite like her before. Eventually they started to fan out and move about their business helping those that were injured in the gunfire. There had been quite a few casualties as a result of the outlaws attempting to run out of town but it would seem they would be paying the price.

"Small town without much action. I suppose they've seen enough to last quite a few months." murmured the gun woman smoothly.

She dismounted off her horse and took the time to check his hooves before tying him to one of the side posts. Against her better judgment, she wanted to see first hand just what those lackeys of Jackals had done to the town. The woman took her time walking the streets noticing the sound of her spurs but ignored them as she turned the corner of the saloon to walk to the back alleyway. She stopped in her tracks watching as an aqua haired woman attempted to try and help two injured men on her own. It seemed an impossible task as the woman only had enough strength to hold one of the men.

"You look like you took a bit more than you can handle, ma'am." murmured Haruka.

Michiru turned on a dime and in the process allowed Dale to move on his own to lean against the building wall nearby. With her arms free, the rancher raised her rifle aiming at the unknown individual in the black hat and duster.

"Whoa there, I ain't aiming to get shot with that. Go ahead and put it down. I ain't one of those low life assholes." exclaimed the gun woman firmly. She also didn't feel like killing a beauty either.

"Who are you?" snapped Michiru not lowering her gun. "I'm not lowering this until I know you aren't going to do anything!"

"Hey now, why the hell would I shoot you? You've done nothing to me and from the looks of things, you could use the help in taking care of those men."

The rancher didn't exactly look too thrilled but she allowed herself to lower her gun in order to help Dale with his injured shoulder. Her blue eyes never left the odd figure who emerged to help her. It was strange seeing someone like her take an interest in someone she never met before. After a while, Michiru sighed and walked Dale across the street up to the doctor's office to be looked at. Lucky for all of them, Mamoru Chiba was in and could handle the multiple wound case that the woman brought to his door step.

"I really do hate gang violence like this." he grumbled soon washing out Dale's wound with a bit of alcohol to sterilize the mess a bit more.

The injured man hissed out in pain. "Easy there, Doc! It burns."

"Just shut your mouth and deal with it. You're lucky you didn't get shot a bit more to the left." he chided firmly.

Dale promptly shut his mouth allowing Mamoru to continue with his work. The ebony haired doctor eventually stitched some of the injury closed with a needle and sewing thread. It made the young ranch hand twitch a little and curse up a monstrous slur of words before he was done with his work. Afterword, Mamoru washed his hands and wrapped up the man's shoulder placing his left arm into a sling.

"Now, you are not to use that arm for a good two months to let the injury heal. You will clean the injury every other day and change the bandages each time. If you don't, it'll get infected and you very well could join the others that weren't so lucky." murmured the doctor.

Dale gave a nod and went to stand only to stop spotting someone he didn't recognize at the door with Dwight slung over their shoulders. He merely looked stunned as the individual walked in to drop Dwight into one of the free chairs as if he was nothing but a bag of feed. It was after the elder male was placed in the chair that the young man took into account that Michiru had been injured.

"Miss Kaioh, you need to get that looked at." he chided ignoring the odd person in the room with them all.

Mamoru looked up from checking over Michiru's arm as he heard spur sounds enter the main room. He glanced up with an eye wearily before noticing it was someone helping Dwight up to his office. A faint smirk crossed his face before he moved to work on Dwight. His injury was more severe than Michiru's was at the moment and therefore held the most need. Stepping to him, he got to work on the man's injured left leg. The bleeding has slowed from a bandanna that had been tied around the injury seemingly from the stranger.

"You don't often help others do you?" murmured the doctor smoothly toward Haruka.

The gunslinger merely shrugged shifting to lean against the wall.

Dale glared toward her having no idea how dangerous it was to mess with her. "You're just going to keep you damned mouth shut? Who the fuck are you?" he snarled.

The blonde closed her emerald eyes trying to not let the idiotic blabbering of the injured bother her.

"Answer me, damnit!"

"Why should I waste my breath on someone who seems ungrateful for the help of a stranger, eh? You're damn lucky those outlaws didn't gut ya with a knife blade when they had the chance." she snapped firmly.

"What would you know? You just rode in after everything happened. I could have taken care of th-"

Michiru cut him off before he could dig himself into a deeper hole with Haruka. "Dale, that's enough. She did happen to stumble into town at the oddest of times but you should be thanking her for helping your uncle out when he needed the help."

The gunslinger raised a brow before looking toward the elder man being tended to. He had long since blacked out from blood loss but he would survive if the wound was kept clean from infection. She knew that much from her years of experience tending injuries of the sort. Nonetheless, it took a lot to handle the pain until the wound could heal properly. It was excruciating to be shot and survive it from time to time. The blonde had scars no one could see unless she allowed the to get close to her. The scars would show she knew what it was like to be shot multiple times and come out alive in the end.

Grumbling, Dale looked away from the stranger and watched as Mamoru tended to his uncle's injuries. It unsettled the young man that he had easily been over powered by a runt of a gang. He had the skill with a gun to defend himself but with Colton's fast pace, it set the tone for everything to unfold so quickly in front of his eyes. Closing them, he cursed faintly gritting his teeth knowing he had lost a good friend because of those outlaws.

"Colton's dead and there's a good chance other people died today too because of those two dirty rats." growled Dale sharply.

Michiru sighed gently looking up to listen to him. Her left hand softly clasped the graze wound that was still bleeding on her right arm. The pain was bareable but more so annoying than anything else. She closed her eyes remembering Colton was in fact dead by now. His injury had been life ending but it would have been a slow death. She didn't even think of trying to find him only having her mind surrounded with trying to help Dwight and Dale.

"He probably is by now. I should have helped him." she sighed.

The gun woman glanced over toward her a moment and shook her head. "There wasn't much you could have done, save end the pain with a bullet."

Dale sent a cold glare toward the woman for a second time. "Who the hell are you to go telling us what we could and could not have done? I'm really not liking you."

"I suppose that goes two ways, runt." growled Haruka moving off from the wall. "I don't often help people on my travels. You should shut you dirty mouth and be thankful I helped you and your boss over there at all."

"Will the both of you just shut your traps already?" came the grunt response of a rather annoyed doctor. The two bickerers silenced themselves allowing him to think clearly to tend to his patient in peace.

Michiru had to stifle a chuckle from the behavior of the two. They seemed to be bantering like children but she could understand the reasoning behind why Dale was being such a pain. She moved her arm slowly only to glance to the injury. It was not too deep or wide luckily; all thanks to her quick reflexes of course. As she lost herself in thought, she didn't notice the stranger moving closer to her until she heard Dale yell toward her.

"Michiru, you better watch that fella. I don't trust him." growled the ranch hand.

Haruka merely chuckled before taking a moment to look over Michiru's injury. She softly reached out with a calloused hand to brush away the torn blood stained fabric from the gash to inspect it.

"It's not bad at all. As long as you keep it clean, it will heal up and not leave a trace of a scar behind." remarked the blonde before reaching into her coat's inner pocket.

Michiru watched her carefully as if expecting a weapon to be drawn on her. She let out a soft sigh at the realization she was being silly. Haruka removed a small roll of white bandages and took the time to tend to her wound while Mamoru was busy with Dwight. The ranch owner blinked a bit watching the woman tend to her though couldn't help from laughing a little.

Hearing the laughter, the blonde raised a brow. "What?"

"It's just I didn't expect you to know how to tend to a wound like this. I don't even know you and yet you're helping me."

"I don't often help others because I'm too focused on my own agendas. Truth is, I came to this town after hearing Jackal was here. I intended to take him on but; since he obviously left, and two of his goons remained behind to end up in jail, there's no worry of me being in such a rush of things."

"Why are you hunting him? I know he has a large amount of money on his head as do others of his damnable gang but that's not the reason. Something else is your aim."

"Indeed it is, ma'am. Let's just say I have unfinished business with him and I intend to get to him after killing every single one of his gang members first."

Dale glanced back toward the gunslinger and felt a shiver go down his spine. "You do realize that's suicide right?"

"Yes, I do. However, I got nothing left in this world that is of any value to me except going after that man and ending his terror with a single bullet from my gun." growled Haruka.

Michiru shook her head. "It doesn't settle anything in the end. It only brings about more violence and a continuation of a demonic cycle of life."

"You might be right, and yet you could be wrong. It would finish off the demon from doing more dastardly deeds anymore." retorted the blonde.

Dale sighed. "All I know is that the killer of my best friend is in that jail house and I can't help but feel a bit obliged to shooting his guts out on the street."

"You best let those feelings go, Dale. I don't want them plaguing you." murmured Michiru firmly. She seemed against the idea of revenge which the gunslinger didn't understand.

"Your boss is right, runt. Not everyone can handle the black mass called revenge. It'll eat you alive til you think of nothing else and breath for nothing else but to get even with the bastard that did ya wrong." commented the gun woman smoothly. Her fingers carefully tied off the bandage on Michiru's arm before she rose from her position off of the floor.

Dale watched Haruka closely with his cold eyes. The woman held a savage air about her when she first spoke to him. The wind was perhaps warning him to stay away from the temper of the gunslinger. Many had fallen as a result of that particular personality fault to her guns over the years. Looking away, he moved to sit down awaiting for the doctor to inform him of what to do with his uncle.

As Mamoru finished his work, he took notice of the conversation that had been held the entire time he had been busy. His eyes flashed from one person to the next before finally settling on the back of Haruka. Something about her seemed familiar and he was certain he remembered her from somewhere in the past. He couldn't place the date or exactly where, but he recognized her voice and her jacket.

"This man will have to stay off of his feet for two weeks. After which, he can move around only with a cane to aid him in movement. I want the weight off of the limb as much as possible so it can heal without hindering itself from unnecessary stress. As for the rest of you, I suggest you stay in town overnight in case complications arise with your injuries. Your friend here will have to stay here for a few days initially anyway before I can allow him to travel." remarked Mamoru calmly. "As for you, gunslinger. I do want your name in the least for helping my patients as you have. You owe me that much."

Haruka smirked faintly and adjusted the ebony hat upon her head a bit. "I suppose you'd be right with that, Doctor Chiba. My name is Haruka Tenoh."

"It will be a name I certainly remember."

_'As will I, doctor. As will I. There's something this Haruka woman isn't telling us and I want to figure out what exactly it is. I doubt she'll be leaving anytime soon which should give me enough time to try and get her to trust me even just a little.'_ thought Michiru. The woman did want to get to the bottom of what was fueling the woman called Tenoh to go after such an infamous and dangerous gang alone. If it wasn't for the money, and it wasn't for protecting the innocent lives, could it possibly be linked to revenge? If it was, the ranch woman had to figure out for what purpose the blonde was hunting the Devil down for.


	4. Jail Break

Inside the jail, the two outlaws grumbled and growled at one another as they were placed in separate cells in the back. The elder of the two moved and took a seat upon the old cot before shaking his head. He was exhausted from the attempt at running and was feeling miserable thanks to the slug in his leg. As far as he knew, the doctor had been sent for to get their legs patched up so they could stand for the gallows in the morning light. Eric had been pillaging for quite a long time alongside Jackal over the years. It had been the first time in his last fifteen years that he had been caught by the law. He intended to figure out a way out of the jail house and back to the gang even if it meant abandoning his partner.

"Oye, Eric..." growled the other finally.

"What ya want, Randy?" he grumbled.

"How do you think we'll bust outta here? I was thinkin on waitin for that doc to show up. If we can knock him out and over take the deputy and sheriff, we're home free."

Eric chuckled a little before wincing rubbing at his leg. "That might not be a bad idea, kid. Maybe you are smart after all."

Randy blinked before he sent a glare in his direction through the cell bars. "I resent that. I do have brains to survive."

"I'm noticing it. Relax, will ya? We need to be in pain to get attention here. If we time it just right, we got ourselves a chance as ya said."

Randy nodded calmly limping over to his own cot where he laid down. They both knew at which point to attack but they had to wait for the doctor to even get there first. After all, Mamoru had his hands full with the victims that had been shot up by the duo. It wouldn't be anytime soon that they would be busting out of the jail house as much as they would have liked.

* * *

Back at the Doctor's, Dwight had been moved to lay in one of the spare beds with help from both Mamoru and Haruka. The older man was having a hard time with the pain once he awoke and Mamoru remained at his side giving him some medicine to help him. While the two men were alone in the spare room, Haruka stepped back into the front room where Dale was seated trying not to disturb his injured shoulder much more than it already was. Michiru herself was pacing back and forth a bit needing to move. She couldn't sit still for very long and it was obvious she was annoyed with how everything had happened.

Everyone seemed silent for quite a while as the gunslinger moved to step onto the porch outside for a moment. Her emerald eyes scanned around carefully as if waiting for any sign of other gang movement to enter the small town. So far it seemed like no one with foul intentions was bustling about; the undertaker was the only civilian running double shifts for the time being. The winds were blowing once again and Haruka could tell death was in them. It was a certain scent she knew very well even if it was extremely faint in the cold air. Her nose could always detect the strange odor.

"So much death. It makes me wonder why no one shot the idiots to begin with." she growled to herself.

Michiru had stopped her pacing watching the woman through the small screen door. She decided to risk the chance of getting alone to chat with her and carefully moved to join her outside barely making a sound.

"No one was fast enough." she murmured.

The gunslinger spun around on the heel of her boots and drew out a pistol in her right hand. The hammer had been cocked and she was just about to squeeze off the trigger when her eyes caught sight of who it was.

"Don't you ever sneak up behind me like that again. I could have killed you." the blonde snarled while allowing the hammer back into a normal position.

Michiru blinked having barely realized what had happened. It had all played out so quickly to her eyes. "I'm sorry. I should have said something to the effects of it's me."

The gunslinger grumbled adjusting her gun back into its proper place beside her hip. "That would be a wise habit to get into, Miss Kaioh."

"Please, call me Michiru. You've earned that right by helping my men and myself. I am in your debt."

"Feh, don't flatter me with that line of bull. I just helped you because I felt like doing something different from my usual routine."

Michiru glared at the woman's back firmly and walked up to stand with her on her left side. She wasn't impressed with the attitude Haruka was throwing off and it quite frankly was pissing her off.

"Looks like I struck a nerve in you, little lady." chuckled the blonde.

Without a word spoken, Michiru raised her hand and in the blink of an eye Haruka felt the stinging sensation cross her face. She winced faintly feeling the pain but was left speechless.

"You ungrateful bastard. You think you can just keep up the soulless act? It's despicable just like you, Tenoh!" hissed Michiru. It didn't take her long to storm off down the wooden stairs and across the street to the hotel.

The gunslinger was left with a burning pain upon her left cheek and the odd sense of wonder about the woman. It had been a long time since someone got up the courage to slap her across the face; a punch would have been something she was more accustomed too. A slap generally was avoided unless it had been from a saloon wench that got the wrong idea of her because of a drunk. Grumbling, Haruka rubbed her cheek a bit trying to sooth the minor sting out of it.

"Damned woman. What the hell got in her britches?" she growled.

The door to the doctor's home and office opened and she turned hearing Mamoru clear his throat. The two exchanged a look before he raised a brow toward her.

"I take it you made Miss Kaioh storm off? She isn't inside so I can only assume your foul attitude sent her off in a silent rampage." he grumbled.

Haruka narrowed her eyes faintly. "What's it to you anyway? She can handle herself can't she?"

"Yes, she can with that rifle of hers. However, she left behind the rifle and I do believe you owe her an apology at some point. Put your pride aside, Haruka."

"Since when do you get off scolding the likes of me, Chiba?"

"Tenoh, you have a hard head and foul temper. Your attitude has been souring a lot it seems since I last encountered you. I remember where I saw you before now. I personally tended to three gun shot wounds on your body two years ago in Phoenix."

The gunslinger looked away leaning over the rail of the porch silently.

"So you do remember? Good, because you need to wake up out of your damnable trance. I suggest you go and apologize to Michiru by the time I return from the jail house. I need some decent amount of rest tonight by some miracle." he grumbled only to move off down the stairs and into the darkening streets.

It wasn't too long after Mamoru left that Haruka stalked off into the town on her own. She needed time to cool off before even attempting to get near the ranch woman.

* * *

Mamoru shook his head once he entered the jail and glanced to the two law men inside. They allowed him entrance to the cell block where he entered Randy's cell to get to work removing the bullet and tending the injury. It was a long and hard process as the outlaw flinched every other time the knife end struck a nerve while trying to extract the bullet. The doctor eventually got the lead ball out of the injury and stitched it up before wiping the sweat off his brow with his forearm.

"Phew, you coud have held still a bit better. It wouldn't have hurt nearly as bad as it did." he yawned out.

Randy winced a bit watching the man stand up and turn his back to him. "Well, I don't like getting pried at with a knife blade, doc. Never have been a fan of sharp blades."

Mamoru shrugged completely forgetting he left himself open for any kind of attack. It only took him a moment to realize his mistake as Randy lunged at him curling a strong arm around his neck. He applied a great deal of pressure to the physician's neck causing him to black out from lack of oxygen. The prisoner wasted no time dragging him back into the cell noticing the sheriff and deputy were busy tending to things in the front office. Randy smirked at his handiwork before laughing a little.

"Get your ass over here and get me out. We can slip out of here." growled Eric firmly.

As much as he enjoyed watching the doctor squirm from the pressure, he wanted to be out of the barred room and on a horse getting out of town. His neck didn't need to snap at the end of a long rope and he aimed on keeping his life intact. Randy slipped out of his cell and removed the key from his door only to begin work on freeing his partner. Once the door was opened, Eric slipped out and glanced through the small hole in the lock up door.

"Both of em are working on paper work from the looks of it. We best just wait where this door will swing to us. Using it for cover, we can slam it into their backs and knock them down before locking them into the cell without their guns." cackled Eric.

Randy gave a calm nod and the both of them merely sat in wait. The law men would begin to wonder why the doctor wasn't done with his work and come in to check on him. The outlaws just had to be patient for the right moment to spring out and be free men.

An hour passed and the law men made their mistake. They entered the cells and immediately spotted the hurt doctor locked up in the far cell. As they made a few steps forward, the door behind them slammed into their spines forcing both of them to fall to the floor. The ground was firm and the deputy couldn't get himself up as he felt a set of hands remove his pistol from his hip. His eyes flickers up to watch as Eric slammed the pistol handle against the base of the sheriff's skull causing quite a bit of blood to flow out.

"Bastards, let us go!" snarled the deputy.

Randy grinned devilishly and shook his head. Before the deputy could speak another word, everything went black as Randy bashed the barrel of the stolen pistol into his skull. Both law men laid out cold on the floor but were soon moved as the outlaws dragged them into the free cell. They finished their work quickly and locked the men in the cell and also made sure to lock the cell block door up nice and tight. Looking to one another, the duo chuckled at their accomplishment.

"No one heard them yell for help so we can relax a while, kid. You did well." smirked Eric.

The younger outlaw smirked rather broadly. He was proud of his plan coming to fruition though he had to wonder just how they were going to sneak out of town. It was already dark from the look of the windows. With night, it became easier to slip out of locations unnoticed by anyone. The two of them needed that cloak of darkness to work in their favor though they both had that gunslinger in the back of their minds. Together they sat in wait for fifteen minutes before blowing out the light in the office and grabbing some firearms. Eric opened the front door and slipped out with Randy not far behind him walking across the boards.

No one in town seemed to notice anything odd. The majority of the people were already in for the evening and those lumbering around were either too drunk to care or too preoccupied. The drunks watched as they walked on by though didn't pay much attention to their faces at the time. The outlaws easily made their way to the livery to retrieve some horses but Eric's attention turned spotting the gunslinger from earlier through the crack in the barn door. He waved a hand toward his companion to make him stop moving around so much. After a few moments of spying on her, Eric relaxed seeing the woman move into the hotel and out of sight.

"All right, let's mount up and get the hell out of this town. The gun is in the hotel and no one has spotted us." he growled out.

Randy continued to work on saddling up two fast horses while Eric was left as a look out. They couldn't risk being spotted now when they were so close to making it out alive. With the horses saddled, the two slipped out of the stable and swung up into the saddles only to spur the animals into a dead run.

Haruka stopped inside the hotel hearing the sound and moved out onto the porch a moment to see what it was with a rifle in hand. Unfortunately, she couldn't make out who it was and the riders were long gone in the darkness cloaked over town. It wouldn't be until morning that she'd be kicking herself in the ass.

_A/N: I want to thank the reviewers and readers for sticking around as this story continues to unfold. I've enjoyed writing it so far and do hope you guys will let me know what you think so far. Reviews are always welcome. _


	5. Amends

Michiru had gotten herself a room for the night in the hotel and was insistent on keeping the door locked. Anyone who would bother her for the night would be saved because of that locked door. She needed an escape away from that gun woman for the time being. After the slap, the rancher had walked away only to keep her anger intact and refrain herself from beating on the woman. She was so infuriating to Michiru with her attitude. It was as if she was a dark souled person or one that didn't value life so high. The entire situation just rubbed the rifle woman the wrong way. In her stance by the window, her blue eyes looked out onto the street spotting two riders leaving town. A chill went down her spine but she quickly dismissed it as a cold spell in the room and nothing more. The blood shed had stopped in the town for the night and she intended on getting some much needed rest.

She moved to sit upon the bed where she slipped off her cowboy boots and set them off to the side. Her hands moved to undo the buckle to her outer belt which held the shells to her rifle. It was then it donned on her that she had abandoned her rifle at the doctor's place.

Placing her head into her hands, she groaned. "Damnit. I was in such a rush I didn't even realize it."

Haruka had her so flustered with anger that nothing of sound mind would come to her senses. She had rattled her cage like no one else had ever done before. Rough ranch hands and even dangerous men couldn't get Michiru to break her patience as quickly as that blasted blonde had.

"Why did I let her get to me like that? She shouldn't have been able to knock me down to her level so easily." she sighed moving to lay upon her back to stare at the ceiling above.

Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to get lost in her thoughts. Colton was dead and Dwight was badly injured. Dale was also hurt and couldn't work which put her and her grandfather down three hands to the already small number of twenty. That left her with only sixteen able bodied men to keep working on the ranch that was threatening to fall victim to under worked stock. The men could only do so much before hitting their breaking points and Michiru did her best to manage with what they had for the last four years. It was a struggle just to keep the pastures and fields from going to ruin. As her thoughts plagued her, her body gave into the need for sleep and she found herself laying on her left side curled up on top of the bed.

A knock echoed from the door but it was not enough to disturb her from slumber. The knocker closed her green eyes and eventually shifted to sit against the wall with the rifle in her hands. The weapon was safe and sound in her grasp and it wasn't about to leave her hands as she wanted Michiru to take it from her. It was just her luck that Michiru would have dozed off or was completely blowing her off because of her actions earlier. The blonde deserved whatever she got and she was ready to deal with it as she removed her hat laying it against the rifle on her lap. It was interesting how the gunslinger made herself comfortable on the hallway carpeting while laying in wait for any answer.

"Either sleep has her or she's really doing a fine job ignoring me." Haruka finally yawned out.

The gunslinger only managed to stay awake for another hour before sleep took her body over. The rifle was propped up against her right shoulder and she slumped forward sleeping. Her right leg was left outstretched across the hallway floor while her leg knee was up allowing her left elbow to rest on it. Her head eventually rested against the wall and she snored softly with her right arm curled around the Winchester rifle. She remained in that position until morning and how no one tripped over her was beyond a miracle.

The sunlight poured in from the window near the bed and it forced Michiru to open her eyes. Slowly sitting up, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes with her hands before letting out a long yawn. She stretched out her upper body before looking around slowly as if waiting to find someone in hiding in there. Finding no one, she rose and slipped on her boots and belt again only to rub at the bandage on her arm. It made her think of the blonde and she quickly dismissed the thought while reaching the door knob and turning it. As she stepped outside, she took notice of a man trying to awaken someone sleeping on the ground near her room. She raised a brow before remembering the rifle in the hands of the sleeping person.

"Excuse me sir, I can wake them. You go on ahead." murmured the woman softly and politely.

The man gave a calm nod and stepped over the sleeping cowboy not realizing it was a woman at the time. He meandered off down the stairs leaving Michiru with the sleeper.

She couldn't help herself from what she was about to do. Haruka deserved it nonetheless. Moving forward, Michiru sent a sharp tipped boot in against her right knee in a swift kick. The hit awoke the sleeper and she quickly jumped upright grabbing at her knee joint. A string of curse words escaped Haruka's lips before she turned around about to use the rifle as a club when her eyes settled onto Michiru.

"You could have shook me awake, damn ya." she hissed rubbing her right knee cap.

Michiru giggled faintly watching the display and moved forward reaching out to brush her hand against the one holding her rifle. Her eyes locked onto Haruka's and the blonde tried to fight the urge to let all the anger fly out of mind. Something about the ranching woman got under the gun woman's skin and she couldn't understand why. After a few moments, Haruka handed over the rifle trying to ignore the touch of Michiru's hand against hers.

"Just take your rifle." the blonde grumbled managing to catch her balance.

Michiru smiled softly taking the rifle into her hands. "I suppose I owe you thanks for returning it to me."

Haruka shrugged before reaching down to pick up her cowboy hat off the ground.

"Tenoh, why did you sleep there last night?"

"You didn't bother answering your door when I came a knockin last night. I figured you wanted to have your gun with ya since ya left it at Chiba's place. I grabbed it and wanted to return it to you as well as to apologize." she looked away and lowered her voice a bit murmuring the last bit to herself.

Michiru raised a slender brow for a moment. "What was that last part? I didn't hear you."

"I said I wanted to apologize." she stated shuddering a bit as it passed her lips. It was not easy for her to admit her mistakes or when she was in the wrong.

"Well then, I want to hear your apology, cowboy."

Haruka cringed faintly before tilting her hat brim down a bit over her face. "I'm sorry for being an idiot. You have to understand I don't usually interact with people much anymore with all the traveling I do. Granted I do talk to some, but I don't understand people as easily as I used to when I was a kid. I didn't mean to come off as an ass yesterday with you, but I wasn't sure how else to handle the situation."

Michiru listened as the woman spoke and found herself even more curious about her. As she finished her apology, she smiled and gave a soft nod as if accepting it for what it was. Haruka had suffered enough from her for the time being and she didn't want to enrage the blonde enough to use those guns on her hips.

"So, can we call a truce from this beating up on one another for now? I'll try to hold my tongue while you hold back your body?" inquired the blonde.

"I'll agree to it under one condition. You will help me on the ranch until Dale and Dwight heal up."

Haruka stared at her. "Are you crazy? I don't know the first damn thing about ranching."

"I'll teach you with help from the other ranch hands." smirked Michiru.

"Fine...I'll do it."

"Good."

Haruka moved off the wall only to limp a bit down the stairs and out of the hotel. Glancing around, she felt something was off in the light breeze and she looked toward her side finding Michiru had followed her.

"Something's wrong." she murmured gently. "You better go check on your ranch hands. I'm going to look in the jail."

Michiru nodded and jogged off with her rifle in hand to Chiba's place to investigate there. Haruka on the other hand turned and walked down the streetway to the jail finding the door cracked open. Feeling uneasy, she drew her pistols and kicked the door wide open before she stepped inside. No one was at the desk or near the wood stove with the coffee pot. A few rifles were missing from the gun rack and it appeared as if the deputy and sheriff were gone. The woman shook her head and holstered her left gun as she carefully walked around to check the doors. Her hand found the door to the cells locked and she swore she heard someone trying to shout from behind the thick door. In a matter of minutes, she found the key and got into the cells finding Mamoru rubbing at his throat a bit and the two law men in the other cage beside him.

"What the hell?" she grumbled.

Mamoru looked up toward her slowly. "I've been shouting for the last two hours. Those outlaws knocked me out and escaped the jail. I guess they used their injuries as a ticket out."

Haruka stepped forward unlocking his cell before moving on to the one holding the deputy and the unconscious sheriff. Glancing down to the law man, she knew in her gut he wasn't going to be waking up any time soon. Mamoru slipped out of his cage with his doctor's bag and went to work examining the sheriff's body. The deputy still looked shaken up quite a bit. He had a large knot on the base of his skull but he was alive despite it.

"It's no use, he's dead." remarked the doctor after a few moments.

The deputy blanched. "You mean they..."

"Yeah, they killed him with a hit to the skull." responded the blonde woman shortly. "You should have been wary of them. Because of you letting them get the drop on you, they've gone off to Jackal!"

"Haruka, calm down! You don't need to grow furious now. It's not the time." scolded Mamoru as he stood up. He looked exhausted and stiff.

The blonde nodded still rather flustered b y the entire situation. "I should have known those two riders were them last night. Damnit, why didn't I go after em?"

The deputy moved out of the back of the jail house and lumbered off to the undertaker's to arrange a box for the sheriff. News would spread about town about the escape and the death but Haruka had to wonder just what those two outlaws were going to do. Something still felt wrong to her but she shrugged it off helping Mamoru back to his office.

"Easy, Chiba. They must have done a number on you."

He grunted in response as he leaned against her a bit navigating the stairs up to his office. His throat was on fire and his body in pain all over from a restless evening stuck in a cold cage with a make shift cot for a bed. Entering the office, he didn't even take notice of Michiru and Dale as he made a straight line to his bedroom where he laid down. Michiru and Dale were left oddly confused and glanced at Haruka as she rubbed the nape of her neck to explain what was going on.

"The outlaws escaped last night. In the process, the sheriff was killed."

Dale cursed. "Just great, just fucking great. Our town is now without any law man since that deputy isn't going to step up. Those two gang members are probably headed back to explain what happened to them."

"It's not like them to split up like that often." sighed Haruka. "I would suggest whoever takes over as sheriff here keeps their guard up. Jackal could very well return with a vengeance."

Michiru calmly rose from the chair she had been sitting on and looked toward both Dale and Haruka. "We best get back to the ranch. Dwight is in good hands and we do need to get those supplies back before anyone starts to worry."

"Wait, what do you mean by we?" questioned Dale.

Haruka merely chuckled and left the two moving off to the street ahead of them. Her mind was back on the one thing she never could escape. Jackal would be coming if those two men went to go join up with him again. He would be returning to the town if someone had done him wrong. That was how he worked and she knew that all too well having lived with the memories of what happened ten years ago to her. The gunslinger meandered toward the full wagon only after grabbing her horse leading him out by the reigns smoothly. It seemed as if the town was coming alive as more people were moving about but she took a moment to stop in her tracks. The undertaker and the deputy were removing the body of the sheriff. Her eyes widened faintly seeing a limp hand fall from the corpse to hang in the air. It just stayed there like a fallen flag but unlike the visions going through her head, nothing fell out of the hand.

She tore her head away from the sight, gritting her teeth in silence not noticing Michiru and Dale had caught up to her. A hand touched her shoulder and she flinched involuntarily. Michiru gave a look of curiosity toward the blonde having felt the twitch. She removed her hand and climbed up onto the wagon after helping Dale.

"Haruka, are you all right?" she asked looking back over her shoulder.

The gunslinger gave a calm nod before swinging up into her saddle. Her horse snorted and fought against the bit causing Haruka to spin the animal in a few circles to calm him down. Together the wagon and the horse started to walk in step before reaching the road leading out of town and toward the ranch lands. Left behind in the town was a small trail of dust being kicked up into a small dust cloud. It drifted through the street before slinking into the coffin maker's shop where it settled back into nothing but dust again.


	6. Rough Rider

The ride to the ranch was a moderately long one that swerved between old trails and old roadways that were decently traveled. Everything seemed to be going all right and as they kept on riding, Haruka started to take notice of the fencing up in the long distance off of the road. A few horses were visible running through the fields away from cowboys trying to round them up; no doubt for branding or some other task. She eventually looked away glancing down to her saddle horn trying to figure out a few thoughts roaming through her head. The majority of them revolved around what she had been roped into by the aquanette driving the wagon. Haruka had no experience with ranch work except for one; breaking in horses. Already she could feel her back and body aching from the abuse she'd probably go through for those tasks, and she'd do them without complaint. She had given her word to Michiru she would help on the ranch until Dale and Dwight were healed up enough to resume their tasks. Until then, the gunslinger would lay down her hunt for Jackal and would pick up the work of a ranch hand.

The wagon rode on into the main portion of the ranch with the rider not far behind. Ranch hands from all around moved from their work of busting on wild horses in the paddock to move and help Michiru out with the load. It was after a band of four of them surrounded the wagon did Haruka appear keeping her distance for a moment. Some of the men held guns on their waists and she was eying each of them closely for a moment. There was something familiar about one of the older men in the batch with a wrinkled and battered old gray cowboy hat. His eyes were a dark green much like her own but his face showed age with strips of silver in his black beard. His hair was about shoulder length but it was tied back out of the way. The two locked eyes for a few seconds before one of the younger men turned to try and pull his gun out on her.

"Let go of your gun, Jacob." hissed Michiru in a warning.

The young gun glared back toward her a moment before watching Haruka intently with his eyes. "Who is that?" he barked.

Dale decided to speak up for once. "She's replacing me on the ranch until I heal up. I wouldn't piss her off since she can shoot a helluva lot faster than the lot of yas."

The blonde rider remained on her horse for a few moments only to dismount and drop the reigns to the ground. The horse remained where he stood watching the people. He wasn't about to budge from his place which had some of the men wondering how the woman got him to do that. Haruka walked over to the wagon and calmly moved tossing a bag of grain over her shoulders before glancing toward the hands.

"You boys gonna just stand there and stare all damn day? Get to work unloading the wagon for your boss already." she grumbled.

The men just stared at her a moment already getting a feel that they were going to clash with her. Some of them grumbled before submitting to the order from the rookie. In a matter of a few minutes, the wagon was unloaded and Dale was on the porch resting his body. Michiru stood by his side watching the men work and to see how Haruka was managing to fit in for the time being. So far no blows were exchanged between anyone but it had only been a few minutes. The men were hot headed fools when their pride was on the line. Haruka would fit in just fine by Michiru's mind.

"You sure she's gonna be able to adjust?" murmured Dale. He had also been watching what was going on. The air felt a little tense at least to him.

Michiru gave a calm nod of her head. "I believe she will. Only time will really tell though."

"That it will. I think you made a mistake though bringing her out here."

"Why's that, Dale?

"She ain't a rancher for one thing. She's a Gun. With Guns come trouble. It's a well known fact."

"She was something else before a Gun."

"Or so ya think."

Michiru sent him a glare.

"Sorry, boss." he murmured.

"You best go rest in the house for now, Dale."

The ranch hand gave a light nod and carefully moved to step into the main house. Once inside, he meandered to a room to lay down on a bed for the time being to do as told. As much as he hated being injured, he was kind of thankful it had happened. It got him out of breaking in the rough stock of horses for the year and his body would be saved from the bruising that came with it. He had to chuckle a bit wondering just how well the new comer would be with that task. It would be something he'd want to see.

While Dale relaxed inside, an older gentleman looking around the age of seventy moved to step outside. In his right hand he held a cane to help his walking, while he looked a bit feeble in his age, the man was still quite stubborn and prideful. His eyes were a dark midnight blue which seemed to sparkle when he was in a good mood. So far, he was in such a mood seeing his grand daughter was home safe and sound from any kind of major harm. The man cleared his throat a little and ran a hand through his silver hair before taking notice of the new hand on the ranch moving with the men.

"Michi, what exactly happened in town? I noticed Dale with his arm and I don't see Dwight of Colton here." he murmured slowly.

The rifle woman turned on her heels and glanced to spot her grandfather on the porch with her. He seemed to be having a better day than he had in the past from how he was able to move. She sighed softly before shaking her head a little.

"Colton won't be back, grandfather. He was killed in town by some outlaws. Dale and Dwight were injured by them. I just have a minor scratch but it could have been much worse I suppose." she shrugged.

The elder sighed softly tapping his chin with a few bony fingers. "I see. Well then, I would hope Dwight is with the doctor then. What about that person? Who is it?"

He extended out a hand to point out the short haired blonde who was currently moving to climb into the paddock with a few horses. Whoever it was, he knew they were determined as they tried to shout to the other hands about how they were handling a large painted horse.

Michiru let out a soft chuckle. "That would be the replacement for Dale for now. Her name is Haruka Tenoh."

"A woman eh? Well, this should be very interesting after all." he chuckled. The elder carefully stepped to his rocking chair on the porch where he sat down.

Within the paddock, Jacob twirled a lariat rope in his hands and aimed toward the paint horse hoping to try and catch him. The rope missed its mark and the horse ran to the other side of the fencing away from him. Haruka jumped the fencing and stepped into the paddock herself. Her coat had been removed along with the spurs off of her boots. She approached the Hand and took the rope from his hands.

"You don't need to catch em like this you idiot. You do this and they'll fight you tooth and nail all the way." she growled firmly.

Jacob turned and sent a punch toward her. "Don't you go telling me how to do my job, rookie. You ain't my boss!"

The fist connected but not to the blonde's face. Her palm took the fist where she calmly jerked her wrist to twist his hand rather firmly. She applied more and more pressure to the joint until the cowboy was grimacing.

"If you want to keep your hand, I suggest you let me handle this horse to show you something." she murmured slowly.

Jacob gave a rough nod before feeling his hand become free. As Haruka turned her back on him, he raised his boot up to kick her in the back. The spur on his right boot cut into the back of her shirt and sliced her back a bit from the force of the kick. She turned to retaliate but stopped mid swing. It wasn't worth laying him out in the middle of the paddock so early. The gunslinger would get even later on as it was. Haruka ignored the blood staining the back of her gray shirt and moved toward the horse slowly. A rope was in her hands but she wasn't trying to catch the animal as Jacob had been trying. Instead, she extended a hand to try and touch the horse's side. Upon the contact, the animal went to rear but Haruka stood her ground and didn't flinch. She didn't make a single move to toss the rope over his head either.

The horse landed on all fours and snorted firmly toward the blonde before running to the other side of the fencing. The blonde continued to walk toward the beast only with a hand outstretched. After twenty minutes of the same thing, the ranch hands wandered off leaving her alone with the horse. They had other work to do and weren't about to be around if she got laid out by the horse. As far as they were concerned, she wasn't worth helping. The gunslinger kept being persistent and eventually earned the horses trust. Standing in the middle of the paddock, she slipped on a bridle over the horse's head watching it closely.

"Easy...it ain't gonna hurt ya. If you work with me, I'll work with you." she murmured patting it's neck.

The horse seemed to do fine until she had the saddle on it's back and got into it. The animal lunged high into the air and started bucking like wildfire. Up and down and to the side he went trying to twist his weight to throw the blonde. Haruka grimaced but set her feet in the stirrups and held on to the reigns as all four hooves went air borne. The force went through her body as the horse connected back to the ground. She leaned up in the saddle a bit and kept one of her hands up in the air for balance. After a few moments, the horse won the battle and threw the blonde roughly over the fence into a batch of hay. As the cloud of dust and hay settled, the blonde emerged with hay in her hair and her jaw set like stone.

"Tenoh!" shouted a voice from the porch.

The blonde turned on her heels only to spot the elder that had yelled her name. She approached the man and stopped near the porch raising a brow.

"You best let my grand daughter tend that bleeding injury on your backside before you climb back on that horse. He can make ya bleed worse if you keep trying now." murmured the elder.

Haruka sighed a bit. "I've broke in horses that tried to bust my jaw wide open and stomp me three feet into the ground before, sir. I can take him but since it's an order from you, I'll wait til the wound is wrapped."

It wasn't worth arguing with the main boss of the ranch and from what she could sense, the man was really the owner of the place. Michiru moved down off of the porch before grabbing Haruka's hand. With a firm jerk of her arm, the blonde followed Michiru into the main house and up the stairs to a room secluded from the others within the house. The blonde stepped inside and was greeted with a large room decorated with a few paintings as well as one or two rifles hanging up on the walls of the room. There was a large bed with flannel sheets and Haruka was soon dragged over to it and forced to sit on the edge.

"I'm fine really. You don't need to go through all thi-" started the blonde.

Michiru cut her off. "Yes, I do. Now stop complaining and take off that shirt."

The Gun raised a brow before getting a glance from the aquanette. Sighing in defeat, Haruka unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it out from her jeans. She stood up right and allowed the bloodied shirt to fall to the wooden floor exposing an under shirt which kept her small chest in place. Michiru raised a brow and the blonde growled under her breath getting the hint. It didn't take her long to shed off that shirt either and soon she was left with her upper body completely exposed. Haruka had figured out if she tried to protest she'd probably face a rifle or be beaten into submission by the other woman in the room.

"Happy now?" barked the blonde.

Michiru let out an amused chuckle. "Seeing you behave like this will take some time but yes, I am."

"Lucky me."

Michiru could fully detect the sarcasm dripping off the blonde's tongue. Deciding not to respond with a witty remark, she crossed the floor to a chest. She opened it and removed a shirt along with a roll of bandages. While she moved to the bed, Haruka glanced down to her hands flexing her fingers and relaxing them. It seemed she was avoiding eye contact and had lost that guard of stubbornness. The blonde seemed almost afraid and insecure. Michiru didn't understand it as she approached her. The items were set off to the side and Haruka looked up catching her blue eyes.

"I suppose I oughta lay down and let you work." she murmured softly.

Michiru gave a light nod taking a seat on the edge of the bed. Haruka moved and eventually settled down with her chest upon the blankets trying to keep relaxed. It was very difficult for her to be at ease considering Michiru was about to find a few things she really wished she couldn't. Questions would be asked and she didn't want to be reminded of what once happened. She closed her eyes laying her head to the side letting out a soft yawn from her lips.

"Just relax, Haruka."

"I'm tryin." came a gruff response as Michiru moved onto the bed to straddle Haruka's upper legs to examine the injury.

The blonde tensed unknowingly from feeling the movement on her body. Upon feeling the touch from the woman's fingers, she flinched even more causing Michiru to glare at the back of her head. What was causing the gunslinger so much stress, she wondered. That was when her eyes began to take notice of the intricate scars adorning Haruka's backside. The skin was a tan color but a few lighter marks made it apparent to the aquanette that the gunslinger had been through immense pain in her lifetime. She began to count the total number of white dot markings and eventually came up with a total count of seven. Her slender fingertips softly traced the woman's spine and sides trying to soothe her out of being so damned tense. The scars felt hotter to the touch as she eventually moved both hands up to the base of Haruka's neck to massage the shoulders finding a large scar on her right shoulder.

"Haruka, what are all these scars from?" she inquired gently.

There it was, the dreaded beginning of a million questions. Haruka mentally screamed before opening an eye and letting out a gruff breath of air out of her body. A few moments of silence passed, but she eventually broke the awkwardness.

"It's from being what I am, little lady."

Michiru slapped the blonde's upper back.

"Damnit woman!"

"Don't call me that again or else you'll get my nails, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now, what do you mean by 'being you'? I don't know much about you but I want too."

Haruka closed her eyes becoming silent once again. It was quite a sore subject and one she didn't feel like indulging the woman in. However, feeling those soft fingers rubbing away the knots in her shoulder muscles was slowly changing her mind. It had been ages since anyone even wanted to touch her in such a manner. She had to admit it was rather nice and it did make her feel a bit more at ease. Letting out a content grunt, she decided against her better judgment to indulge the little lady in some of her background. The Gun hoped it would be enough to get her to stop digging for more answers.

"I earned those gun shot scars from my role as a gunslinger, Michiru. The line scars are from knife fights and runs ins with people who didn't quite like the look I gave em."

"They must have been very painful for you." she murmured softly getting to work on the gash on her lower back. The injury had stopped bleeding during the light massage.

Haruka let out a grunt. "Yes, it was but I kept going back to gunning."

"Don't you care if you get killed?" Michiru started to add a bit of bandaging to the gash.

Feeling the material, the blonde shifted and allowed her upper body to rest on her elbows. Michiru would need the leverage to get around her torso to finish working the bandages. Haruka let out a light yawn before closing her eyes.

"Quite honestly, I don't. I haven't had anything to hold on to in a long time. I ain't got a family and I ain't got anybody to really be concerned about." she responded smoothly.

"That's quite a rough lifestyle you lead."

"I'm a rough rider and a gunslinger. It's the only life I've ever known."

Michiru softly ran her hands over and under the blonde's waist continuing with her work. The wound soon vanished beneath a few layers of bandages before Michiru removed a knife and cut the end to tie it off. When she finished, she moved her hands back to massaging Haruka's upper back muscles noticing just how tense and knotted she really was. It was all over and not just located in the shoulders. Whatever the woman was gunning for, it brought a great deal of pressure onto her body. She continued to knead at the firm skin silently admiring all the scars and textures. The gunslinger was a tough woman and it showed through the strength of her skin and the durability of her body. After a few minutes of massaging, she caught the sound of light snoring.

"Don't tell me she-" she murmured soon glancing down to the blonde. She had fallen asleep under the touch of her massage.

"Sleep well then, gunslinger. You need it." whispered Michiru as she got up off of Haruka's body only to drape a light blanket over her body.

She silently left the room allowing Haruka to dream. Inside the blonde's head, was a whirlwind of nightmares about to plague her. While she may have been at peace when Michiru was in the room, she was about to dive right back into the hell she was trying to run away from.


	7. Payback

It had been a few weeks since Haruka's arrival onto the ranch. Tensions were still high between her and Jacob but somehow she managed to not lay him out on his back. She didn't need to rub the other ranch hands the wrong way as it was. Her body ached all over and her hands were already back to being calloused up a bit worse than usual. Handling the lariat ropes bare handed hadn't been her best idea but some of the men needed the extra set of hands to pull a few stubborn steers down to the ground. The branding had been an easy task for her as her horse was well suited to listening to orders and standing when a steer was roped and tied off onto the saddle. The men had slowly started to get used to her around. The elder one who looked familiar to her still kept his distance however. He was quite fearful of the blonde having seen her skill with a gun and he also had guilt riding him.

Haruka sighed a bit taking a break from moving hay up into the barn loft by use of a rope and hands. Her shoulders were burning up and her hands needed a break so one of the other men took over the task of pulling the rope to lift the hay. She moved to the well to get some water to drink and as she walked, her ears caught the sound of music. It echoed from the main ranch house and so her eyes moved to an open window on the top floor. She recognized it as Michiru's room as she had gotten quite used to joining the woman for talks when neither of them could sleep that well. The sound made the new hand smirk a bit before dunking her head into the well bucket full of cold water. It sent a chill down her spine but she didn't care. Tossing her head back, she wiped the water off her eyes with the back of her hand and just leaned against the stone barrier of the well.

"I had no idea she could play something like that." she whispered gently. Her eyes closed allowing herself to get lost a bit hearing the high and low notes from the violin music.

"It's how she finds herself at times." came a soft response.

The gunslinger turned moving a hand to grasp at the handle of her pistol before she realized who it was. Mr. Kaioh chuckled lightly soon approaching her with use of his hard wood cane. He seemed amused from the reaction he got out of the blonde.

"I really wish you would say your name first or say mine. I nearly shot you, sir." murmured Haruka as she sighed and leaned back against the well.

The elder man smiled lightly before nodding. "I do apologize for that but you seemed to be enjoying the music from your stance. I didn't want to ruin it for you."

"It's not often I hear music like what she is playing. The last time I heard a violin it was in New York at my grandmother's home. She played the violin while my grandfather played alongside her on the piano."

"I see. So this holds some fondness in your memories of back then to those times, does it?"

"Somewhat. It was fond only for the music really. I didn't quite settle into what my grandparents expected."

"Ah."

The elder looked toward the blonde. Her face was more sun scorched than before and her collarbone had quite a bit of sun burn to it as well. The sleeves of the once white shirt had been rolled up to her shoulders in attempts to keep herself cool from the work she had been doing. The man could tell she was quite a hard worker from the amount of abuse the ranch hands had been getting her into. He did have to give her credit as a horse woman though. The paint she had been bucked off two weeks earlier had been trained and numerous other horses had followed suit.

"Sir, would you mind me asking about Michiru? How did she come to wield a rifle so damn well?" questioned Haruka lightly.

He chuckled lightly. "I don't mind you asking. You don't have to keep addressing me as sir all the time, Haruka. Don't be afraid to call me Toshiro. As for Michiru, she picked it up after I wrote to her to come out here. With my health and age, I can't get around the way I used to. I can still shoot pretty well if I have a rest to steady my gun.." he smirked.

"I wouldn't doubt that. It's a tough country out here and sometimes that is all you have to rely on. I've never met someone with her kind of speed with a long gun. When I first ran into her, I had the barrel pointed at my head and she was quite set on shooting me if I didn't start talking."

"Michiru's been around a while to see the type of things that go on out here. She's a rough woman when she needs to be but she is a sweet child."

Haruka chuckled lightly and gave a gentle nod noticing the music had stopped playing. She sighed and pushed herself off of the well feeling the winds picking up once more. Mr. Kaioh glanced toward her watching her movements. He could tell she was stiffening up from the amount of work she had been doing. Something else had him curious of her as he could tell there was a meaning behind why she had the gun belt on her body.

"Tenoh, I know you may want to dodge the question. Why do you truly wear those guns? It's not just for protection. I know, as an old gunslinger myself." he murmured.

Haruka stood straight with her back turned toward him. She bowed her head a bit and closed her eyes turning her hands into fists for a few moments. The question echoed inside of her head but she knew she had to be careful how she answered it. It brought back the one thing she was constantly running from.

"To remind me what made me turn to them." she responded calmly. "It's to keep me focused on ending a reign of terror that's lasted far to long."

"It has something to do with that gang that attacked the town last month, doesn't it?"

"Yes, Toshiro."

The elder dropped the subject having noticed a flicker of fire behind the green eyes. Whatever that gang had done, it had the blonde wound up rather tight and he couldn't get through the layers. She was a hard one to unravel but it was not his place to attempt that job. Instead, he would leave it to someone else who might be able to get down to the true Haruka Tenoh.

"Tenoh, perhaps you'd feel up for riding the fence lines for a while. You look a bit drained from the harder work with your hands. A ride on your horse might ease you a bit." he murmured gently.

Haruka gave a light nod. The elder was right about that. When she was on the back of her horse, she could just let things vanish for a while to enjoy the ride. That was one of the factors that made her an excellent choice for breaking in the rough bronco stock. It also helped that she enjoyed a bit of a challenge in the matter of showing the men she wasn't just some push over. She offered a light bow of her head toward the man before moving off to the barn to remove her horse from his stall. After a few minutes, she emerged on the back of the large horse with her hat squarely upon her head to block some of the sun off her face. The horse bolted with a calm kick to the ribs and in a matter of minutes the rider was gone to inspect the fences and the herds of stock on the ranch.

Mr. Kaioh smiled a little watching the dust Haruka had kicked up. He shook his head as he heard a few of the men laughing a bit and taking a break themselves. The day was getting hotter already as it was eleven in the morning. The horses had plenty of water from the river in the lands they grazed and the cattle were safe and sound. No rustlers had even attempted to take any more cattle after five of them had been killed by Haruka's gun when she rode the fences. They got the hint that anyone caught would not survive so it wasn't worth attempting in the first place. The ranch itself was growing again and for the better since Haruka's arrival. Toshiro had noticed the rivalry between some of the rand hands and her sparked the men into working twice as hard as the blonde. The work had doubled and the barn was looking as good as new from part of the roof being redone. The gunslinger had brought quite a bit of prosperity for the old man and his grandchild.

The elder slipped inside of his home to take a seat in a rocking chair to rest his sore knee joints. He was doing better than he had been but he often tried to ignore the pain to not worry Michiru. She often worried about him and he hated to see stress in her eyes. Toshiro had grown more stubborn over time and Michiru often had to wonder if Haruka was rubbing off on him at all or not. A smile formed on his face as he heard foot steps moving down the stairs.

"Grandfather, just what were you doing?" she inquired.

Toshiro merely chuckled. "I was chatting with your blonde friend. She heard your music."

"I didn't realize she would be listening. The others don't often seem to pay attention when I play."

"She did."

Michiru shrugged moving over to take a seat upon the couch a moment. She raised a hand to brush back a few of her aqua curls and her eyes settled back onto her grandfather watching him rock in his chair. He appeared to be in a good mood which she couldn't understand. The old man was plotting something but what she had yet to find out. Her eyes drifted back to grabbing a black ribbon from her front jeans pocket to tie her hair up off her neck as she debated on going for a ride mentally.

"She's out riding the fences." murmured the old man.

"I assumed as much. She doesn't tend to stay still for very long even when she works." chided Michiru.

"It's in her nature, Michiru."

"I suppose. Well, I'm going for a ride myself. I should check the cattle fields in the east side."

"All right, but be careful. You never know what could be waiting out there."

"I'll be okay, Grandfather."

Michiru rose from her spot on the couch and walked to the door. Before she slipped outside, she grabbed her rifle and her belt of ammunition. Toshiro smirled a bit watching through the window as she vanished into the barn to saddle her horse. The elder could also tell she had changed with the time the blonde had been on the grounds. In the past month, the two seemed to becoming what looked like friends and Toshiro was thankful for that. He only hoped Haruka wouldn't overlook that new bond that was growing. In time the old man closed his eyes, and Michiru took off on her horse to just enjoy the ride having no idea what was ahead of her.

It didn't take her long to come across the cattle herd where she spotted Haruka down below the ridge. She smirked a bit leaning upon her saddle horn a bit with an elbow as she just observed from higher ground. A young calf had gotten himself stuck in a mud pit and while Haruka had been checking the fences, she had come across him. In an effort to get him out, she had roped him and tried to drag him out with her horse. It worked for a short time until the rope made it hard for the calf to move. As Michiru came onto the scene, the blonde was up to her waist in mud wrestling the calf out.

"Come on, damn ya. You got me dragging through the mud trying to save your sorry excuse of an ass." growled the blonde.

The calf bleated out and nailed Haruka right in the torso as it got free to drier land. Doubling over, the gunslinger cursed out even more before grabbing the lariat rope she had removed from the calf. Tugging on it, her horse picked up the cue and started to move backwards helping her to slide out of the mud pit. After a few minutes, Haruka was laying on her back staring up to the clouds above while trying to allow her chaps to dry out from the pounds of mud still clinging to them. She didn't hear the sound of hooves approaching her as she relaxed.

"Have fun swimming in the mud, cowboy?" chimed a voice.

Haruka looked over toward where it came form and sighed seeing it was Michiru. "Just a ball of fun."

Michiru giggled a bit hearing the sarcastic response. "Oh come on now, it wasn't too bad."

"So says the one that isn't stuck with an extra thirty pounds on her body." grumbled Haruka.

The blonde slowly got up off of the ground only to undo the buckles to her chaps to allow it to fall to the ground revealing the clean half of her pants. Michiru covered her mouth trying to stifle a fit of laughter. She was rather amused from the sight in front of her where Haruka had mud up to her shoulders on her shirt and a defined hove print set to the torso. The laughter soon broke and Michiru was trying not to fall off her horse from laughing so hard. The blonde rolled her eyes and walked over to her horse to wind up the lariat that was also a bit caked in mud. When she finished, she glanced back over to the laughing woman and shook her head.

"Get your laughs in now, Michiru. I don't intend to keep doing this job forever." she sighed.

Michiru stopped her laughing and looked back toward her. "You're doing well for just learning the ropes on this job."

"I know not to let any of the herd die if you can help it. That's common knowledge of ranches."

"Yes, but not many ranch hands would wade into the mud up to their waists the way you did without getting stuck themselves."

"That's where the rope and my horse came into play. I do have brains that aren't linked to shooting."

"You had me fooled."

"Think as you will." shrugged the blonde as she grabbed her mud soaked chaps only to drape them over the saddle horn.

Michiru chuckled a little soon moving her horse down into a walk to stop short of where Haruka was standing. The blonde was attempting to kick off a bit of the mud attached to her boots. It worked after a few moments and in victory, the blonde swung herself up into her saddle only to glance toward Michiru with a raised brow. From kicking out the mud, a piece of it had smacked Michiru right on the cheek. Removing it, the aquanette sent a playful glare toward the blonde.

"Do you enjoy making _everything_ muddy?"

"Well, you are dirty minded so I think I'm just doing you a favor, little lady." grinned the blonde.

"Haruka!" shouted Michiru.

The blonde took off on her horse racing through the field ahead of the angered Michiru. She knew she had pissed her off by calling her little lady once again and no doubt she'd be bleeding by the end of the night. It was worth having a little fun to drive the rifle woman a bit batty once in a while. Looking back behind her, she spotted Michiru racing after her on her horse. She was catching up as well and because of that Haruka turned her horse to go through the trail leading up and passed the river on the mountainside. Her horse managed to keep his footing before reaching the woods around the river. Slowing him down, she glanced behind her finding Michiru was not behind her as closely as she had been. She stopped her horse before turning to back track the trail when the sound of gunfire caught her ears. For the first time in ten long years the blonde felt her heart skip a beat as more guns went off. Spurring her horse in the ribs harshly, she leaned up in the saddle urging him forward as fast as he could manage.

Outside of the forest line, Michiru had been sent off her horse and was stuck between a small gully behind a few large boulders. She growled abit firing back a few times with her rifle to the unknown shooters locations. The bullets grazed the boulder in response to her attack and she ducked down avoiding a bullet across the face. Whoever was firing at her, meant business and wanted to kill her from the way the bullets kept getting closer and closer to actually making their mark. Breathing carefully, she moved and fired off two shots before three were sent back at her. Blood started to drop from her face onto her shirt as a bullet grazed her cheek. It made her realize she had to move before they started to come in on top of her to finish her off. She maneuvered through the ridge of rocks until she came across a deer trail leading into the safety of some of the woods. The shooting from the upper woods stopped as she took cover into the pine trees waiting for her move.

The shooters emerged slowly from the wood line only to raise their rifles spotting movement in the trees. As they fired, they found a saddled horse run through the pathway without a rider. Smirking a bit, the men looked to one another before laughing.

"Looks like we got her, Eric." murmured one of the men.

"Sounds like we did so far, Randy. However, I ain't taking any chances. Jackal sent us out here to kill her and we are gonna make sure she is dead." growled Eric.

"All right then. Let's go check it out." he smirked moving to slip out of full cover.

A gun went off and he very quickly was jerked backward onto his ass in the underbrush. Eric had pulled him back by the shoulder to keep him alive for the time being.

"Seems she ain't dead." sighed Eric before moving to trail up through the woods a bit under cover. He planned on circling around to where the horse had emerged.

Randy shook his head and crawled out through the tall grass on his stomach to reach the gully. While Eric would back track, he'd go to where the aquanette had last been in attempts to find her. He intended to kill her in order to keep Jackal from killing him. The gang leader was not impressed with their stunt and failure to actually kill Michiru in the first place. The anger exploded into a full out beating of both men from the rest of the gang and ended with the orders to make sure the woman was dead. If they failed, they would be tied by their arms to a tree and skinned alive. Needless to say, the men intended to come back with their jobs completed in order to keep their skin.

Michiru panted a bit wiping the blood away before trying to slip out from the cover of the pine trees. She managed to get off the trail only to feel an arm move about her waist and a hand over her mouth. With widened eyes, she moved to try and bite the hand only to hear a familiar voice curse from the bite. Retreating her hand from about Michiru's mouth, Haruka sent a glare to her.

"Sorry, Haruka. I thought you were one of the people shooting at me." she whispered.

The blonde shook her head. "I have a feeling its more people from Jackal." she responded in a hushed tone.

"Why would they be out here shooting at me?"

"The better question would be what did you do to piss off Jackal?"

"I didn't do anything except defend some people in town from his gang last month. I killed one of the gang members."

Haruka slapped her forehead and grimaced in pained agony from hearing the woman's words. Without saying a word, she dragged Michiru down to the riverbed where she looked around carefully and listened for any sounds of movement. So far they were lucky without any more bullets being thrown at them but that didn't stop the urgency in Haruka's mind to come up with a plan and fast. Pulling Michiru to her a moment, she whispered something into her ear and soon let her go. Michiru watched as her friend vanished through the brush once more leaving her in the open. She only hoped the plan would work and not backfire on them in the end.


	8. Opossum

Eric and Randy grew closer and closer to the river with two other men with them. As they approached the waters, Randy pointed out ahead of them to where they spotted the rifle woman laying on the muddy bank. With a grin, the younger of the two gang members jogged down the bank to inspect the body and the injury of the woman. She appeared to be laying there dead with blood on her back and the visibility of a gun shot wound to the back and to the shoulder. The fabric of her shirt was stained crimson red and he soon glanced up to wave the boys down to his location.

"She's dead, Eric. I don't feel her breathing." he murmured having not bothered to check for a pulse. She looked white compared to the mud all over her front.

Eric slowly emerged to join him on the bank over the river. He was more cautious than his companion in checking over the body and approaching it. The speed in which he had seen her use her rifle in town a month ago was still on his mind. While others forgot such details, Eric always remembered that when it came to hunting down people they were assigned. The two men that came with them were soon forced to walk in front of him as he spotted Michiru on the ground.

"All right then, grab her rifle from the ground and toss it here, Randy." he murmured.

Randy didn't move.

"Randy, do as I told ya!"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"She ain't got a rifle with her."

Eric froze in his position as he heard those words. While he dared to breath, he didn't move his body in any direction. The other two gang members noticed his behavior and moved to grab the body. They grabbed her by the arms and rolled her over onto her back to inspect her more closely. Her skin looked pale and she seemed to be muddy and caked with what seemed to be blood. There was no weapons on her body but the belt of bullets around her waist. Randy smirked seeing them and looked back over toward Eric.

"Relax Eric, she's as good as dead. She probably dropped her rifle in the brush trying to get here where she died."

"You better pray you're right." snarled the man as he turned to walk away from the river. "Get back to the horses."

The men nodded and left the body where it lay upon the ground. Together they reached the woods where their horses should have been but found they were gone from the trees. Angrily, Eric moved trying to figure out in which direction they bolted but was unsuccessful with his attempts. His senses were on high alert as he knew someone or something was in the wood with them and was nearby. Randy was jumpy as well after noticing his horse was gone. The gang moved out of the woods and tried to back track their steps out of the ranch lands before they could be caught by what they assumed was a bear or a cougar. Bears were often found up in the wooden ridges of the mountains and on the more mountainous rock terrain was where a cougar could likely dwell. Both were prime suspects to have caused their horses to bust the tied branches in order to keep alive from being dinner.

As the men climbed through the trees and the boulders, they kept their eyes on high alert as well as their ears. They were petrified that around every corner there could be a large cat waiting to dive right into their flesh and bones. The two unnamed men climbed higher and higher before stopping to take a break feeling their bodies wanting to give out from the heat of the afternoon. Eric and Randy soon joined them sitting upon a boulder in the shade beneath an overhang. While they rested, they didn't hear the faint sound of movement up above them on top of the over hang. The one making the sound was carefully stepping in certain spots to limit her commotions knowing for certain their was in fact a big cat around in a den nearby. Haruka had seen the gang members vanish beneath the rock she had been waiting from. She only hoped her second plan would work and that she herself would come out alive as a result.

The gunslinger waited hidden behind a few medium sized stones before picking up a large rock. She took a deep breath before hurling it out onto the stones below her. The rock smashed into the overhang causing the outlaws to become rigidly aware of what was going on. Something had lunged onto the top of their make shift hide out and whatever it was, was big from the sound of the smash. The sound traveled up and all around in the air only to arrive at the den opening of a rather angry mountain lion. It awoke from the annoying sound and crept out of it's home only to let loose a loud roar. The big cat jumped from boulder to boulder sniffing the air in ways of finding out who disturbed its sleep. As is slithered down the terrain, Haruka was quick to climb down out of the ridge ahead of the big cat as to not draw its attention to her. She wanted that big cat to find those outlaws while she made a run for it out of the mountain.

The outlaws slowly sent one of the men out to check what was going on. Randy carefully climbed the stones before coming face to face with a rather annoyed cougar. The cat bared its fangs before letting out a strong hiss and roar in warning. Slowly, the outlaw tried to back down away from the wild cat only to have his face get slashed by a set of razor sharp claws. Letting out a blood curling scream, Randy grabbed at his face no longer able to see out of his right eye. The scream caused the other outlaws to move out to try and shoot the big animal. In nervousness, each bullet missed its mark and only angered the cougar even more. Eric soon made a motion for retreat and the three men attempted to run leaving Randy behind. As they skidded down the boulders, the large cat made a mad dash for them leaving Randy to shake in shock from the gashes across his face and throat which would eventually kill him.

The outlaws managed to reach the field where they turned to try and shoot the animal chasing them but their guns were out of bullets. Their supplies had been left on the saddles on their horses. Cursing, Eric grabbed a knife from out of his boot and grabbed the two other men. Without warning, he slammed the knife of his into one of them sending it deep into the heart. He ripped it out and racked it across the throat of the last man before trying to run away from the corpses. Eric was doing his damnedest to not be killed by the wild cat. The cougar let out a furious roar as it lunged down from its perch in the stone to the field below. Its legs propelled it forward and soon it sprang forward again lashing out its claws into the back of the running outlaw. Eric let out a shrill shriek into the air feeling the fangs dive into his and neck. The pain was excruciating and he eventually felt his legs give out. His hand tried to grab the knife he dropped to save himself from the onslaught of claws and fangs ripping into his ribcage.

The sound of running horses made the big cat look up while having a deep hold on the outlaw's back and legs with his sets of claws and feet. Below the big hunter, were two riders upon their horses who seemed to be curious as to what was going on. Michiru turned her head away seeing the amount of blood and carnage the cougar was creating with the man. Haruka on the other hand looked up and held a smirk upon her face watching the cat return to ripping Eric apart. The screams from the dying man echoed and sent a chill down Michiru's back.

"Haruka, let's go." murmured the rifle woman who felt sick to the stomach.

"Feeling queasy already? The bastard's getting what he deserves for trying to kill you, Michiru."

"I just want to get back to the ranch." came a soured reply.

The blonde gave a calm nod and moved to ride after Michiru as she took off toward the ranch. For someone who was probably not used to seeing that kind of bloodshed, Michiru managed to hold down the contents in her stomach even when she reached the main house. Dismounting, she handed off her horse to Jacob and moved to slip into the house ahead of Haruka who returned as she shut the door. Sighing a bit, the blonde jumped off her horse and moved into the barn with him in order to remove her tack. Jacob blinked a bit before slipping into the barn himself to find out what was going on.

"All right, what the fuck did you do to her, Tenoh?" he snarled.

"I did nothing, Jacob." snapped the blonde as she let her horse go into his stall.

"Bullshit!"

"Don't start with me now." she warned.

"I ain't afraid of you. You made her dash into the house without saying a word. What the hell happened? If you won't tell me I'll beat it out of you, Tenoh."

"You do that and I'll stomp your sorry ass into the ground, Jacob." snarled a male voice.

Haruka snapped her eyes up toward the barn door spotting the elder ranch hand from the first day she appeared on the ranch. She was quite a bit stunned from seeing him defuse the situation that was close to exploding into a brawl. Passing Jacob, she slipped out of the barn only to stop and smirk toward the man calmly.

"I know who you are, mister." she commented slowly.

The elder let out a slow sigh. "I know you do, Haruka. I expected you to recognize me the minute you first saw me."

"I did."

"What are you going to do?"

"I have no quarrel with you."

"How am I supposed to believe that? Aren't you after everyone associated with Jackal from back then?"

"I am, however I don't see any reason for me to kill you like the others. You've obviously been trying to repent for your past mistakes. Don't worry about me coming after you, Clint. You and I have no grudge between one another so breath easy. By the way, thanks for calling him off."

"You're welcome. Jacob is a thick headed man and no doubt you will have to put him in his place. I figured you'd want to check on Miss Kaioh so I stepped in."

Haruka nodded and jogged over to the ranch house. Sighing a bit, she pulled off her mud stained boots and rolled up her pant legs a bit to keep some of the mud from falling off onto the floor inside. She stepped inside sheepishly and glanced around a bit trying to find Michiru. Without spotting her, the woman sighed shaking her head and closed the door behind her. It was her fault for letting her see that mess and no doubt the woman was probably upset with her about something. Stepping up the stairs, the blonde made her way toward Michiru's room where she stopped to softly knock on the door.

"Michiru?" she called lightly.

"Come in." replied the woman.

Stepping into the bed room, the blonde looked over to find the woman removing clean clothes. Michiru turned to glance over her shoulder back toward Haruka and offered a faint smile. The blonde only looked more confused as to why Michiru had slipped into the house so fast before she could even say anything to her. She merely shrugged it off as a need to get changed and to have a bath before the red berry dye could stick to her skin.

"I'm sorry about letting you see that."

"You don't have to apologize. It was part of your plan and although I'm not quite used to seeing such a thing, it's better than being actually dead as I could be. You protected me, Haruka."

"The only reason it worked was because you were a good actress."

"Don't be so silly."

Haruka blinked watching Michiru walk to her. She raised a brow before allowing a faint smirk to appear on her lips noticing the look behind those blue eyes of hers. Michiru smirked a bit as well before leaning up only to smear a bit of the crimson red dye onto her face causing the blonde to laugh.

"I deserve that."

"Yes, you do but you also deserve a hot bath. We both could use one actually." commented Michiru rather smugly.

Haruka blinked before laughing a bit. "Ah, we both could but you are taking one before I do."

"What's the matter Ruka? Afraid to get close to someone?"

"Don't call me that." snapped the blonde.

"Don't you like it?" purred Michiru.

Haruka flushed up a little and turned to step out of the room. "Go take your bath."

Michiru laughed lightly before slipping out of her room to brush by Haruka. She vanished down the hall into the bath room where she laid her back against the door a moment. Haruka watched her go off and moved out of the house to the bunk house where she had been sleeping. Moving a hand through a bag of hers, she removed a fresh pair of jeans and a green western shirt. As much as she hated to admit it, she had been growing closer to the aquanette over the time she had spent on the ranch. The teasing Michiru had given her only made it more apparent to her and it faintly annoyed her as well. Brushing the thoughts aside as she stepped out of the bunk house, she blinked hearing someone call her.

"Haruka, come over here." murmured a calm voice.

She turned to spot Toshiro upon the porch and she walked over to him. "Yes, sir?"

He smiled a bit. "I would suggest you get on inside and wait for Michiru to be done. You could use a hot bath rather than a cold one."

"I have to disagree with that, sir. I could probably use a cold bath more so than a hot one at this point."

"Well then, in that case you leave me no choice."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I order you to get inside and up those stairs to wait."

Haruka groaned out a bit and soon sighed. "Fine. If I didn't know any better I'd say your doing this on purpose just to see what happens."

Toshiro smirked watching the blonde step into the house. After she left his sight, he laughed out a bit rubbing his forehead with a hand.

"Well, that one is quite good at picking up cues. Nonetheless, this will do the both of them some good." he murmured looking out across the grounds.


	9. Softness

Haruka grumbled moving up the stairs only to stop near the bath room door. Somehow she got stuck listening to the old man only because it was an order from him. In the back of her mind, she had to wonder if he was trying to set her up with Michiru. The way he had acted made her think that while she leaned against the door. Unfortunately, the door opened and she fell backwards only to land on the ground to stare up to the ceiling.

"You could have said something before opening that door." she grumbled.

Michiru smiled a bit and leaned down offering a hand to Haruka. The blonde took the offer and got onto her feet only to take notice Michiru was still clothed.

"Not in the bath yet eh?"

"Not yet, I had a feeling you'd be sent up here so I wanted to keep the water warm for you. I figured we could take one together."

Haruka looked away trying to mask the blush rising onto her face. For a woman who could handle killing numerous people, it was rather entertaining to Michiru to see her blushing like a fool. Moving a hand, she gently stroked Haruka's cheek trying to calm her and coax her into relaxing and letting her guard down a bit more. The touch only made the blonde look down to the floor as if out of embarrassment.

"Ruka, why are you so damn nervous? I don't bite on purpose you know." teased Michiru.

"Obviously the bite mark on my hand means nothing, eh?" responded the blonde.

Michiru grinned a bit before stepping away from her only to start removing her shirt. The blonde attempted to look away out of respect for the woman but it was slowly becoming a temptation. For some reason, she felt herself growing more and more attached and attracted to Michiru over the time spent around her. Of course she worked hard but, Haruka had been thinking back on her agreement to work on the ranch. It may have been more of an effort to unknowingly grow a bond with someone after so long of being on her own. Brushing the thoughts aside, she grumbled something beneath her breath before her emerald eyes caught sight of a shirtless Michiru. Her skin was incredibly white and supple compared to her hands and Haruka couldn't help but move over to place a hand on her shoulder. Looking back, Michiru blinked toward the blonde in a confused manner.

"You know, I may as well say it here and now rather than wait to get the blood slapped out of me later. At least here I can clot my nose with something." murmured Haruka calmly.

Michiru merely raised a thin eyebrow.

"You have always been such a pain in my ass since the first day I came across you. The moment you pointed your gun at me, I knew you very well could have blown my brains out. Somehow you didn't and only later did I realize how damn stubborn you are. Michiru, you could have gotten killed out there today and that would have only made me more miserable."

Haruka glanced down toward the wooden floor and sighed lightly. She was having a hard time coming up with the right words to say. It had been a long time since they had left her mouth. As she remained silent, Michiru approached her and very gently leaned up and pressed her lips to the sullen gunslinger. The touch brought Haruka out of her thoughts and her eyes widened in a bit of surprise not expecting a kiss from the woman. Her heart started to pound even harder within her chest as the kiss lingered upon her lips. Loosing herself in the feeling, she reached out her muddy arms and pulled Michiru close against her chest forgetting she was still in the muddy shirt. It didn't seem to matter to either of them as they stood enjoying the tender moment. Drawing her mouth away, Haruka looked down to the woman in her arms and offered a genuine smile for a change.

"You got me muddy. Now you'll have to get me clean, Ruka."

"Well, after that kiss I don't think I'd object to washing the mud off of you, Michi."

"Well then, why are you still standing in those clothes? Get them off."

Haruka chuckled a bit before unbuttoning her shirt a bit. "Are you always so pushy when you want something?"

"Only when it comes to you, cowboy." teased Michiru as she slipped out of her muddy clothes only to step into the hot water of the tub.

The blonde rolled her eyes before laying the muddied shirt on the ground in front of her feet. Her torso was a bit sore from the mule kick from the calf but no bruising showed up on her skin. What did show up were numerous bullet scars on her body in co-ordination to the wounds on her back that Michiru had already seen. Unlike before, Haruka seemed a bit more relaxed and eventually allowed her jeans to fall to the ground along with what remained on her body. Michiru smirked a bit and shifted to the side of the tub winking toward the blonde. She took the invitation given to her by the wink and moved to get into the hot water which immediately soothed some of the tighter leg muscles in her body.

"Hm, seems you haven't had a bath in a long while, Ruka." chided Michiru before she moved a hand to stroke her back sweetly.

The feel of the fingernails on her back sent a pleasurable jolt down the blonde's spine. "I haven't had a warm one in a long time. I usually dive into the rivers to be honest."

"Well, you'll have to enjoy hot baths more often with me." purred the aquanette.

The gunslinger grinned faintly and moved through the hot water only to lean her back against the cool metal of the tub. Her arms maneuvered around Michiru's waist before pulling her to sit upon her lap where they could both be more comfortable. She heard a light chuckle escape the rifle woman's lips and only smiled feeling a kiss on her cheek from her. Her cheeks flared up red soon afterword noticing the smooth texture of Michiru's skin as her hands were guided to her chest by the violinist.

"You planned this all along didn't you?" whispered the gunslinger into her ear.

A grin found itself on Michiru's lips. "What if I did?"

"I would have to thank you for it."

"Oh really now? Since when are you the thanking type, Ruka?"

Feeling a soft squeeze of her breasts, Michiru let out a light moan as Haruka smirked leaning in to nip at her neck. Drawing her mouth away and closer to her ear, the blonde began to whisper.

"Since I came to realize you have made me change. You made me care and love again after so long."

Michiru closed her eyes allowing herself to surrender to Haruka's tender yet firm touch of her body. Calloused hands caressed the smooth skin of her body and teeth nipped upon her shoulder. Her pulse quickened and her breathing grew a bit rough while suppressing another soft moan from her mouth. The subtle changes were something the gunslinger had anticipated, yet what she didn't expect was a tender hand massaging her outer thigh in response. The blonde grinned and moved her lips to tenderly press against the woman's earlobe. A soft whine was given in return and Haruka allowed herself to draw away chuckling a little.

"What's the matter Michi?" she whispered.

Michiru turned to face her aggressor. "Nothing's the matter. I'm enjoying this from you, Ruka."

She leaned up and pressed her mouth against the blonde. Haruka closed her eyes deepening their kiss. The sensation brought the gunslinger out of her little world and into the world where she could be loved again. Gripping at Michiru's thigh, the woman broke the kiss looking into ocean blue eyes. Green looked into blue and for the first time in a long time Haruka felt whole again.

"Michiru, I do believe I've fallen for you."

"How can you say that so easily? I never pictured you as someone to give a damn about someone else so quickly."

"Hey, even you can't understand the way the heart works. After all, if you did you probably wouldn't have allowed me to be this close to you."

"You bring up a valid point but it doesn't matter. My heart wants you and it seems yours wants me in return. I don't see why we have to keep avoiding the subject."

Haruka chuckled lightly holding onto the smaller woman upon her lap. She closed her eyes allowing her body to rest within the hot waters and up against Michiru's body. The heat from her form caused the aquanette to shiver with delight as she leaned her head against the blonde's chest. Everything for that moment in time was at peace for the two of them. Together they could forget about the dangers lurking far beyond the ranch and the hell that was slowly coming to haunt them. All that mattered was that they could hold onto one another, and not have to let go so suddenly. With those thoughts in mind, the two of them allowed one another to explore their bodies as much as they desired. Michiru's hands slithered beneath the surface of the water to stroke at Haruka's thigh taking note of the different textures as she found a scar. The blonde had a lot of those and she couldn't help but wonder about the stories behind them.

Haruka had her eyes closed while feeling Michiru's hands wandering her body. In the back of her mind, she knew well enough that questions were probably forming in Michiru's head. She would answer them when the time was right in the future. After all, she didn't wish to worry the woman over silly details that really didn't matter anymore to her. Feeling a soft hand slip between her legs, she let out a soft grunt making Michiru smirk a bit. Her slender fingers nudged and prodded further toward their goal all while her eyes were fixed on the blonde. Haruka fought out a groan as she leaned firmly back against the tub at the sensation. It had been a long time since anyone had been allowed to be intimate with her. Gazing down into blue eyes, the blonde resigned herself into slipping out a moan.

The rancher giggled hearing the woman's voice. The moan was deep and lustful which only fueled the desire in Michiru to let some of the tension flow out. Fingers edged closer and closer to warmer waters. Hearts were beating harder than before and lips locked once again in an unrelenting storm of passion. The water sloshed around but neither woman took notice. They were far to busy getting acquainted with the other's body. Moans and grunts wafted through the air and soon enough heated yelps joined into the choir. Both women slumped back into comfortable bliss as the water slowed back to being still. Their hearts began to settle as well as they kissed passionately one last time.

The gunslinger was the first to part their lips. "We should be getting out of this water. It's getting cold and I don't need ya getting sick on me."

"Oh, Ruka. I don't intend to get sick." chided the other smoothly.

Together they both slipped out of the cold water and meandered around to get dried off. Michiru smiled a little as she dried herself with a towel only to watch as Haruka attempted to tame her mess of blonde hair. It was all in disarray from Michiru's handiwork. The blonde shrugged and eventually began to get dressed in her fresh clothes. Feeling a set of hands move about her waist, she raised a brow wondering what Michiru was up to. It didn't take her long to spot the skillful fingers buttoning up her emerald shirt for her.

"Thanks, Michi."

"You're welcome."

Haruka turned and watched as Michiru got herself dressed. A pleasant smirk was plastered on her face and it wouldn't come off for quite a long while once they were moving through the farm house. As they reached the porch to step outside, Michiru glanced to the blonde softly. She seemed more at ease but there was something she wanted to tell her. Now that they had been together, she was not going to let her go and get killed.

"Ruka, promise me you won't die if you keep going after Jackal."

The blonde looked out to the stars and closed her eyes. "I'll promise to try and not get myself killed, for your sake."

"You are stubborn."

"Yes, you know this and yet you still want me don't you?"

"Shut up, and kiss me, cowboy."

* * *

_AN: I just want to thank you guys for reviewing this story. I didn't expect it to grow such a following. ^^; Heh, I'll try to keep things interesting for the next installment. Please keep enjoying the ride guys, and thank you again for continuing to stick along._


	10. Unexpected News

Another month had come and gone rather quickly for the ranch. The place was bustling with a great deal of business from people wanting horses. Toshiro was very pleased to see that Haruka had turned out to be the hard worker he had expected. Not only that, but she was also talented in breaking in the majority of the horses without a complaint. He could also tell that tensions were getting worse between the blonde and Jacob over the last month. The two had gotten into verbal spats more often the previous week and it was reaching a boiling point. The other ranch hands were quick to try and separate the two before blows were given. Luckily that stopped possible blood shed for the time being, and it also forced the gunslinger to try and tame her wild temper.

One afternoon her temper was lighted into a raging fire by words from the ranch hand. She was minding her own business handling the painted stallion she had broke in. The horse was behaving himself until hearing a whip crack rather closely behind him. On instinct he started to rear, and out of reflexes Haruka sprang back to clear herself from the hooves. Noticing where the sound came from for a second time, her green eyes spotted a long bull whip which was in the hands of none other than Jacob.

"You trying to get me killed?" she growled while approaching him.

Jacob laughed a bit rolling up the whip into his hand. "I figured I'd test your reflexes a bit. You've gotten slow."

"I ain't slow when it comes to keeping alive."

"Looks like it to me, Tenoh. You've also been hanging around here too long."

"I promised Michiru I would stay here until Dale and Dwight heal up and are able to return to work."

"Seems like you've got other plans though. I've seen how close you've gotten to Michiru. I don't like it one bit."

Haruka cracked her knuckles out before sending a fiery glare toward Jacob. "What she does of her own accord is none of your business."

"It is my business. She's getting far too comfortable with a murderer."

The blonde brushed passed Jacob to slip out of the pens. If they were going to go to blows, she preferred it to be away from where a horse could trample either one of them to death. The word murderer was one the gun woman was used to hearing. It was attached to her name in a majority of other places but she never killed a man who didn't deserve it. When she drew her guns, it was always in self defense and she made certain of it.

"You're playing with fire Jacob. I'm warning you now to walk away from me." she commented softly. After all, she was wearing her gun belt.

Jacob just started to laugh and emerged from the pen himself. He placed the whip around a post for the time being before watching Haruka's back. He had her annoyed which was what he wanted. People often made mistake when that riled up and he saw his chance at getting rid of the problem. The man moved to walk in line of Haruka with quite a bit of distance between them. He also had his gun belt on and was itching to use his pistol. That itch had been growing since the first day he saw the blonde walk onto the ranch.

"Hell, woman, I ain't afraid of playing with fire. I've been burned but it's never stopped me. Why don't you show me how cowardly you are then, hm?" he spat out.

Haruka's back tensed. No one called her a coward and lived before. _No one._

"What's the matter? Afraid you'll get shot?"

"If you intend to shoot, then I suggest you shut your damned mouth and shoot when I turn around." growled Haruka in response.

The situation had caught the attention of both Dale and Michiru, who were moving out of the house to sit upon the porch for a while. Dale's eyes widened before he jogged off the porch quickly. He forgot about the pain still in his shoulder as he sprinted to get between the two before something bad would happen. As he skidded to a stop, Jacob had drawn his gun and was in wait for Haruka to turn to face him.

"Stop! The both of you." shouted Dale. He didn't want to have any more blood spilt in front of him. "Jacob, holster your gun."

"I ain't going to. Get out of the way, Dale. I'm gonna put Haruka in her place. Someone should have done so when she first showed up." growled the ranch hand darkly.

Haruka started to laugh and turned around to lock her eyes on Jacob. She saw the gun in his hand but remained calm and collected. "Dale, please move."

"But-" started the injured man.

"I won't injure him. I promise." came her response. "He won't stop until he shows he's got the bigger balls. Let him try and prove himself so he can stop egging me on."

Dale sighed before moving out from between the two. There was no arguing with Haruka nor was there any way that Jacob would back down at that point. It was better to step away from what was going to happen before he got hurt again. Michiru moved off the porch and approached the arguing pair. She stopped to stand alongside Dale as the sound of wagon wheels caught her attention. She turned only to spot Mamoru and his wife, Usagi with a wagon which brought Dwight back home to the ranch.

"Seems the doctor showed up right when we may need him." she whispered into Dale's ear. Dale nodded before watching Jacob and Haruka. He was rather interested.

Jacob watched Haruka turn around and chuckled before placing his gun back into it's holster. He intended to see who really did have the faster draw despite the doctor's arrival. Narrowing his eyes, he watched Haruka's hands carefully. The blonde seemed completely at ease that it started to get to him. The longer he waited, the more he felt the urgency to get it over with in one go. He moved to draw only to feel his hat fly off of his head to the ground the moment his fingers wrapped about the handle. The blonde's gun had been drawn and fired off one shot. The bullet had missed any vital points and sent the ranch hand's ebony hat to the ground with a hole right through the top of it. There was no blood and no one hurt as Haruka had promised. Holstering her gun, the blonde walked away from Jacob and passed both Dale and Michiru.

The gunshot had startled Usagi into grabbing onto Mamoru's arm. The doctor glanced to his wife and smiled very faintly. He moved a hand to stroke her back assuring her that everything was fine. It was just a dispute being settled without anyone getting hurt despite the use of guns. The woman eventually nodded in understanding and moved off of the wagon. Mamoru soon joined his wife upon the ground and traveled to the back of the wagon to help Dwight onto his feet.

"Easy now. You still need that cane." he chided the elder.

Dwight nodded leaning onto the oak cane while attempting to move. He had been doing rather well rehabilitating his leg and walking once again. The gun wound had been clean and was healing without any sign of infection. It was all because of Mamoru's watchful eye and Usagi's help. He smiled quite a bit upon seeing Dale again and limped over to hug the young man.

"It's good to see ya again, kid." he murmured.

Dale smiled. "Same to you, you old coot." he chuckled.

As the two men caught up with one another, Haruka made her way toward the porch. She passed them giving a bow of her head toward the two and kept on walking only to notice Mamoru and his wife finally. She waved a hand before feeling hands on her shoulders from behind. Raising a brow, she turned to look and began to grin. Michiru was there and held a calm smirk on her face. The ranch woman was rather proud of Haruka's actions; no one got killed.

"Now he'll back off from you for a while." she murmured gently.

Haruka shrugged. "He might, but I doubt it. He's too stubborn to tuck tail and let me be for long. Besides, I think he's jealous that you and I have something going on between us."

"Well, it's none of his business."

"Damn right."

Feeling a soft kiss on her lips from Michiru, the gunslinger allowed her body to ease itself into a calm state. It was not worth keeping all the tension in her body since she had handled the problem for the day. She returned the kiss before looking toward the couple who brought Dwight back to them. Usagi was grinning from ear to ear having seen that display and Mamoru was trying his best to keep a straight face. Seeing Haruka kiss someone was a rather odd sight for him, and it warranted a laugh.

"I get stuck with one of your ranch hands and you some how tamed Haruka?" he inquired.

Michiru laughed softly and shook her head. "I haven't tamed her, Dr. Chiba. In fact, I think her wild ways rubbed off on me."

Haruka couldn't help but laugh hearing those words. "Like hell. You were wild before I started influencing you. I just took advantage." she winked.

Michiru sent her lover a look which promptly made the gunslinger shut up. The last thing she wanted was to be booted out of a warm bed.

"Well, I decided to bring Dwight back onto the ranch. He's able to move a bit better than before with his injury. It's been healing properly and I also have news from town." commented Mamoru.

Leaning back against the porch beam, Haruka raised a brow. Michiru moved to lean against Haruka's chest with an arm about her waist. Whatever the news was, something told her she needed to have a hold on the reckless blonde. Especially, if it was about who she believed it to be.

Mamoru sighed gently looking toward the newly formed couple. "The town is still without a sheriff and it's been given a threat from Jackal's gang. If we don't give them Michiru within the time frame of a month, they'll burn the place to the ground and kill everyone in their sights."

"We haven't been able to figure out why Michiru would be the target." commented Usagi softly.

"I know why and I'll be damned if I'm letting him anywhere near her." growled out Haruka. Her voice was harsh and held a firm sharp edge to it.

Michiru glanced toward her before placing a hand upon her collarbone softly. "Ruka..I can fight."

"I won't-"

"No, I can decide if I want to help take his gang down."

The gunslinger glared down toward her lover. Green eyes met blue and it seemed Michiru had quite a bit of strength in her gaze because the blonde faltered and looked away first. While she didn't want to argue, she knew Michiru could indeed fend for herself with her rifle skills. She had been on the end of her barrel once before but she couldn't help but feel that the past would somehow repeat itself again.

"Seems like the both of your are stubborn." murmured Mamoru calmly.

Haruka sent him a glance which only made him chuckle. Somehow it appeared like a joke to him, yet she could see how it would be amusing to his eyes. Nonetheless, the blonde stepped away from Michiru only to walk off of the porch to lean against the side of the doctor's wagon in thought for a few moments. If Jackal were to ride into town, someone had to fill the shoes of the sheriff. No one had the guts to wear that badge after the last sheriff had his skull caved in by a pistol. Letting out a long sigh, Haruka turned to look toward the group gathered on the porch.

"Chiba, is anyone willing to fill in the shoes that need to be filled in town?" she asked carefully.

He shook his head. "No, everyone is petrified of what Jackal is capable of. We know he'll torch the town without batting an eye."

Michiru glanced between the two before realizing where her lover was going with the conversation. "Ruka, you can't-"

"I have to, Michi. No one else has the balls to stand up against Jackal wearing the star. There's a reason to why I have to be the one to meet him in town." she murmured gently.

Usagi blinked standing close to her husband. The conversation had turned serious but she found herself wondering about the short haired blonde. The woman was of a different breed but seemed to be having a lot of trouble letting go of something. Whatever it was, she hoped it wouldn't put her six feet under. As she watched her, she gently took hold of Mamoru's arm and leaned against his shoulder. No matter what the outcome, there would be more blood spilled in town than she cared to admit.

"And just why do you have to do that? I understand you going in there with a gang of people to pick him off, but why are you so damn stubborn to go rogue?" growled Michiru finally.

Haruka's jaw tensed and her eyes turned cold. "Because he killed my family, burned down our ranch and gunned down my father in the street."

The rifle woman lowered her gaze as she heard her lover speak. It explained everything Haruka had become and was; her skills with the gun, her ability to be so fast with them, and of course the most important of all, why she was so set on taking down Jackal without regard to her own life.

"When I was thirteen, I was busy working in the livery stables in town to make extra money to help my mother out with my kid brother. My father worked as the town sheriff at the time and we were managing to do all right. However, it all changed when _he _appeared. Jackal wasted no time in looting the town and sending his gang out to ravage the ranches outside of the town limits. The members of the gang got onto my farm and shot my brother down when he was playing with our herding dog. They burned down the barn with old oil lamps we had inside of it, and also torched the house leaving my mother to burn alive inside. I found the remnants of everything when I got to the ranch, two months later." she started.

Taking a moment, Haruka looked away from the group to stare toward the horses a moment. She was doing her damnedest not to cry or to break in front of everyone. She had to be strong, like her father was until the end. Taking a deep breath, she continued.

"While the gang was handling the destruction along the countryside, Jackal and two of his best men called my father out on the street after starting off a gunfight killing five innocent civilians. My father went out to enforce the law but was gunned down in a matter of moments by Jackal's fast draw. My father didn't stand a chance but they didn't stop there. They took his body from the middle of the street and hung him in the middle of town off of the hanging tree we had. Of course, before they strung him up, they coated him in kerosene before lighting him on fire after he was dangling off the ground." she growled out.

She fought back the tears in her eyes as she gritted her teeth good and hard. Her eyes had seen that fire and it was then she made the mistake of trying to take on Jackal herself. Being a kid, she didn't stand much of a chance at all against a fast gunner like him. As she found her voice again, she felt a tender touch to her shoulders from Michiru's hands. She turned and looked down to the woman before feeling herself get wrapped in a tender hug. Pulling Michiru in tight to her body, Haruka tenderly laid her head upon her shoulder for a few moments. Once they drew apart, she sighed and started to speak once more.

"When I saw what they had done to my father, I grabbed the rifle from his horse in the stable and moved out to fire at them. I missed three shots before finally hitting the one goon in the leg. I tried to aim at Jackal as I was running down the street firing off shots, but he was faster and more accurate with his gun. I hit the ground before I even knew what hit me only to find I was bleeding from four holes in my body. Jackal shot me and left me to bleed out in the streets watching my father's body burn like a candle five yards in front of me." she murmured. Looking down to her hands, she gripped them into fists firmly. "The town folk buried my father after cutting him down and the doctor took me to his office and worked tirelessly on me day and night for a long time. Before I knew it, three weeks had passed and I couldn't even recall what the date was. I was exhausted and strained from the blood loss but somehow I survived it all."

Michiru gently placed an arm around the blonde's waist and looked to her face. "So that is why you became a gunslinger, isn't it?" she asked softly. Her fingers tenderly stroked at her lover's lower back to try and help her stay calm.

Haruka gave a calm nod and looked toward Mamoru, Usagi and the others upon the porch. They all stared at her with saddened eyes and could fully understand why she had been so abrasive at first with some of them. It made sense to Michiru as to why she had been trying hard to keep from falling attached to them all, but the blonde failed in the end. She had come to love the very woman she had intended to only work for temporarily.

"I have to step up and face Jackal. It's gone on long enough and I refuse to let history repeat itself." murmured Haruka after a few moments of silence.

"I won't let you fight this alone, Ruka. I'm going to stand beside you on this whether you like it or not." commented Michiru.

"I honestly don't think anyone will let you fight alone, Tenoh." called a voice behind them all. Clint stood with his gun belt securely around his waist and with a faint smile on his lips. "I'll also stand with you. I have to pay for my past crimes and there's no better way than to fight alongside you."

The gunslinger sighed gently hearing the voices of support. She gave a calm nod after a few moments accepting defeat. Somehow, she knew in her heart Michiru wouldn't allow her to work alone and she was grateful for the aide of Clint.

Haruka sighed gently but offered a faint smirk. "Then it's settled, it's about time I end what started ten years ago."


	11. Preparations

The ranch had come to a stand still for two days while everyone figured out a plan of action before the end of the month. Jackal was on his way and he was not going to hold back on the people no matter who they were. Having known how ruthless he was, Haruka started to work on stocking up certain supplies the fighters would need to combat against him when the time came. She was no longer working the horses until she figured out a secure way to keep innocent lives from being wasted. As a result, Jacob was given more work to do which served him just fine. He had backed off of Haruka since she shot a hole through his hat. The two managed to coexist for the time being at least without blowing up at one another.

Sighing gently, the blonde set the pencil down gently upon the desk in the sitting room. The sound of Michiru's violin soothed her raw nerves as she took a small break from writing items down. Her hand had cramped up enough to make her stop working for the time being. She closed her eyes allowing herself to drift away with the sound of the comforting melody being played in the background.

"You know just when to play in order to calm me, don't you?" she murmured softly.

A few happier fast paced notes greeted her in response. Haruka chuckled a bit before reading over the list of paper in front of her. Listed were numerous items such as repeating rifles, shells for said rifles, practice for those who were stubborn enough to want to stand by her side in the town. At the bottom of the list, she had one thing listed which had meaning to herself. It was the one item she always had on her person when she wore her long duster. The charred red sheriff star that had been her fathers. The stable manager had removed the metal from his body before the undertaker took over burying him. She was given it as a memento of the horrid day. Since then, she always wore it in her chest pocket inside of her duster as a luck charm.

"You should stop playing after that song and we should go and shoot a while. I want to see your skills first hand with that rifle of yours."

"Do you doubt my skills, dear Ruka?" inquired Michiru curiously.

A faint smirk crossed the gunner's lips. "I don't but I just want to make sure everyone who stand with me or goes into that town with me, can fire sure as sin. I don't want anyone whose innocent to die that day."

"If it puts your mind at ease, we'll go shoot a while with some of the others. I know Clint is out practicing his draw. It might not hurt for you to familiarize yourself with a rifle."

"Your right with that. Question being, can you shoot a pistol?"

"There not my preferred weapon."

"You're gonna carry one on ya though. You might end up needing to use it if your rifle ends up empty and useless."

"Yes, _mother_."

Haruka sent a glare toward the violinist as she calmly placed the instrument away. "I won't risk losing you, woman."

"Says the one that didn't want anything to do with me at first. You've grown soft."

"I didn't hear you complain about that last night."

A coy smirk appeared upon the rifle woman's lips. So the blonde was going to play that game, hm? She could go toe to toe a while. Carefully, she walked across the length of the room only to stop and lean down to look Haruka in the eyes. The blonde tilted her head up to catch the blue eyes she loved so much. Before either of them could speak, Michiru caught her lips with her own in a passionate kiss. Haruka closed her eyes and found her arms snaking about the smaller woman's waist. With a firm tug, she pulled Michiru into her lap where she could allow her calloused hands to roam to grab a hold of her lover's round rump. Feeling a grope, Michiru opened her eyes only to pull her mouth away and give Haruka an amused expression.

"Your my tease, you know that don't you, Michi?"

"I know full well what I can get you to do. Right now you need a break from that list to let your hand rest. I didn't exactly have this in mind however."

Haruka chuckled lightly only to hold her close. Kissing the woman's neck, the gunslinger simply eased herself into a state of calmness. Michiru had been able to figure out when she was working herself too hard. As of late, she had been busting her bones trying to come up with a safe plan to take out Jackal and his gang in one shot. Already, one of the ranch hands was on his way to get a hold of a calvary fort to inform them of the situation. Given the fact that Chiba had sent out a telegram requesting a Marshall to come down to the town, and it was still unanswered, the blonde took it upon herself to let a rider contact the nearest military fort. The town would need fire power in order to contain the gang from pillaging the countryside again.

Feeling slender fingers massaging her shoulders, Haruka snapped out of her thoughts and smiled resting her head against her lover's collarbone. Michiru let out a soft sigh as one of her working hands moved to ruffle her lover's hair sweetly.

"I love you, Haruka."

"I'm glad someone finally does." she smirked.

Michiru laughed softly only to slip out of her grip to her feet. Extending her hand out to Haruka, she winked to her. "We should go practice like you want."

Taking Michiru's hand, Haruka rose to her feet and walked out of the sitting room. She paused long enough to retrieve her gun belt off of the rocking chair she had draped it on. Michiru watched her for a moment only to remove her own rifle off of the wall where it hung when not in use. With the lever cocked, she checked the chamber finding it was clean. With a soft sigh, she walked off to grab a box of shells to bring with her. Haruka glanced up after adjusting her belt in time to watch her walking by. A faint smile crossed her lips before she stepped out onto the porch to notice the calm winds. It was a good day to get some practice shooting in. Together they walked through an old field and set up a few tin cans upon the fence posts. After Haruka made sure they remained standing, she jogged back away a good distance to practice her pistol shooting.

Michiru stood alongside her and watched with her rifle within her grip. The blonde was able to fire off six shots rather quickly and she couldn't help but hope that Jackal wasn't up to par when Haruka faced him. Then again, the rifle woman wasn't going to simple stand off on the sidelines and watch her lover get killed either. She was already plotting how to best protect Haruka without the blonde realizing what her plan concerned. As far as she knew, Michiru was going to be covering a far end of the town and not over where the gunfight would perhaps take place. With a faint sigh, Michiru brought herself out of her thoughts upon feeling a tap to her shoulder.

"Hm?" she blinked.

Haruka stood with a pistol outstretched to her. "Take it and fire it a couple of times."

Michiru shrugged and took hold of the pistol. Pulling the hammer back, she carefully pulled the trigger only to gently walk the hammer back into place. The revolver felt strange within her hand after so long. Sure she knew how to handle one, yet it had been many years since she picked one up and fired it off with as much accuracy as her rifle. She was better suited for the long guns than the revolvers. Letting out a faintly annoyed sigh, she raised the pistol and glanced to a tin can on the post. She pulled the rigger and watched as the top line of wood splintered and the can remained unharmed. The pattern continued for all six shots before the annoyed aquanette handed the pistol back to Haruka. Before the blonde could protest, she watched as an annoyed Michiru raised her Winchester only to fire off a single shot. The can flew off in defeat and she fired five more times at the airborne can.

Watching it hit the dirt with multiple shots, Haruka crossed her arms before her chest and raised a fine brow. "Feel better now?"

"Much, actually." came a calm response.

"I can see why people are wary of pissing you off with that kind of aim with the rifle."

"Of course, then again you'd know that wouldn't you?"

Haruka rolled her eyes and simply moved to set up the cans again. She was bound to have Michiru able to handle a pistol enough to defend herself. The two worked together for quite a few hours before taking a break. By the end of the session, Haruka found herself the object of Michiru's aggravation. The blonde sighed a bit rubbing the back of her neck trying to ignore the faint pain in her shoulder from multiple hits from the ranch woman. Nonetheless, she couldn't blame Michiru for that. It was irritating when something didn't come about naturally. That was exactly why Haruka had planned to spend a week or two working with her on the pistol shooting. They had the time for it after all.

After the two hours session and five empty boxes of shells, Haruka decided to call it quits for the day. Michiru had gotten a bit better by hitting three out of the six targets though she stil had room to improve. The woman seemed a bit better about handling a pistol though than she had bee earlier. Walking back to the house, she left Haruka to watch the horses while she intended to work on cleaning her rifle out. She couldn't help but smirk a little from remembering how close Haruka had been to her while helping her steady the gun in her hand. Letting the thought go, she unloaded her long gun and calmly ran a cloth through the barrel back and forth to clean it out from all the grim it had collected. The gun became clean in a matter of minutes and once reloaded was placed off to the side in a corner out of plain sight.

"I wonder just how she's going to handle this." Michiru sighed to herself.

A voice called from the doorway gently. "She's got her mind set on it. She'll handle it somehow, child."

The woman nearly jumped before turning only to spot her grandfather. She gave him a light glare.

"Sorry, Michiru. I couldn't resist. You've been thinking too hard for the last few days."

"I can't help it. I'm worried over Haruka."

"I know you are and with good reason. However, she's more accurate than even Wyatt Erp when it comes down to it."

His grandchild moved only to sit down and rub her forehead a little with her fingertips. She was showing worry but Toshiro understood why. The elder had once been in Haruka's shoes but for different reasons in the past. While Haruka fought for revenge in a way and for a sense of peace within her mind, Toshiro had done it to make a living when everything else around him crumbled. It wasn't until he met his wife that he realized he could put the guns down for a better life. He limped into the room only to take a seat in his old wooden chair a moment. As he closed his eyes, he could hear the sound of the men moving animals around from outside.

"How can you be certain she can handle it? It's a weight that's been on her shoulders for many years now."

Toshiro smiled. "You drive her to not make a mistake Michiru. She's working harder now because she has something to lose if she goes down."

Michiru glanced out the window of the room only to watch as Haruka passed on by. A faint smile formed on her lips seeing her and knew what she was going to do. When the woman often got too stressed out, she'd work with the horses or find something else to draw attention away from the main problem. The rifle woman only hoped she could keep her wits about her when the final showdown came to pass. Toshiro watched his grandchild look out the window. She looked much like how his wife had looked in the past and he couldn't help but pray that Jackal's aim wasn't as accurate as it could be. He didn't want to witness Michiru withdraw from the world as he knew she would if Haruka fell. In a matter of moments, he draped an arm over Michiru's shoulders and the two embraced for a few moments just trying to keep their heads straight.

While the two inside the ranch house spent time together, the blonde gunslinger mounted her horse and decided to take a long ride checking the fence rows. The two hour ride would do her well to clear her head as well as to help her refocus on what was important in her life. She had someone to live for which drastically changed her view on gunfighting for the first time in her life. Would she retire after handling Jackal? Could she really take down the speed Devil of the west? She wasn't sure but the questions kept floating about her head as her horse took her away in a fast run.

The fields and fences eventually began to blend to Haruka's eyes as she kept up her running pace on her horse. The ride was doing its job of distracting her to certain points and allowing her to think. Her horse didn't seem to mind galloping at full speed either. He rather enjoyed it as he raced some of the horses in the fields which only made Haruka laugh quite a bit. Did she stop him? No. It was too much fun to watch the horses race on either side of her in the field. The feel of the wind distracted her from all things important even if the display caused a few ranch hands to gawk in the distance.

Two in particular just gave each other a look before watching the scene unfold. "That's something you don't see everyday, Jacob."

"I know Clint. I still don't like her though." grumbled the younger hand.

Clint chuckled a little shaking his head. "You'll grow to tolerate her sure enough. Besides, you oughta know Michiru loves that woman."

"I do know that but it still bugs me a bit about her showing up and changin everthing around."

"Grow up, kid. It ain't worth being jealous over one person for the rest of yer life."

Jacob glanced down to his hands for a moment. What Clint said did make a great deal of sense but the young man was a very stubborn soul. He still had the majority of the month to figure out just how and if he would help Haruka in her task against Jackal.

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_A/N: Hey guys, sorry for being a bit slow for this chapter. I just have been dealing with a few things that have had my full attention. Hopefully you all will enjoy the next chapter update after this one. I'll try to make it up to you guys by making it worth the wait._


	12. Down to the Wire

Time had been passing by slowly out at the ranch but there was not where Haruka had been staying for the last week. There was only a week left before the gang would return to the small town. The blonde gunslinger had been helping the citizens move everything of importance out of the town to the ranches outside of the town and far away. There would be no innocent people killed if Haruka could help it. People seemed to understand the situation was of great importance and were doing their best to remove children and the elderly away from the town. Toshiro even suggested the people who had no where to go to come and stay at his ranch until the entire Jackal situation was handled. So far, five families had taken up his offer and the ranch hands were busy at work helping them move.

Jacob found himself running back and forth from town and to the ranch finding out how things were going for Toshiro's request. He found quite a number of people moving into the bunk houses on the ranch as he made his return from town. Even the stubborn man had to admit, Haruka did have quite a plan in ensuring people were safe from getting killed. She had been working hard from what he had witnessed over the last week and a half in getting people out of harms way. Jacob did admire her drive and even found himself deciding that he would help her anyway he could against Jackal and his damnable gang after all.

That was how he had been assigned to run back and forth between the ranch and the town. He made sure people got to the ranch safely when needed and kept communications open for Toshiro and to Haruka. As he moved his horse toward the fence, he sighed a little and rubbed his eyes with the back of his right hand for the tenth time that day. The winds were still taking its toll on him riding through the dust for the second time that day. Jacob didn't complain much anymore as he grew to realize the seriousness that was enveloping them all. There was no time to be an idiot when there were lives on the line and innocent ones at that.

A few kids were off watching the horses move in the coral as he finally made his way through on foot to walk his horse out to cool him down a bit. The hand left him tied to the fence with the cinch strap loose on purpose. After running a hand through his hair, Jacob moved to the ranch house and inside to find Toshiro. He eventually found the elder man sitting in his office with a few others speaking over vital points for the ranch.

"And that is how we will add a bit of back up around the ranch until the Calvary can re-enforce us." murmured the elder smoothly.

Jacob cleared his throat a little while moving to hold his hat in his hands. "Sir? I'm back from town. It seems everyone is moving as far away as possible and it's nearly all cleared out."

"That's good to hear. How are the men, and the girls?"

"Doing just fine. Haruka said she appreciates your helping hand to the civilians. I told her the men out here plan to do their best if Jackal sends anyone out this far to hurt anyone."

Toshiro leaned back in his chair while closing his blue eyes. It had been a long time since he became involved in a gun fight but he wasn't about to roll over like a coward.

Jacob watched him for a few moments before clearing his throat. "I'd like to help Haruka with Clint and the others if possible. We have more than enough men here with arms to fend off any attack until the re-enforcements arrive."

The elder gave a calm nod of his head. "Very well, you can do so. You may be needed depending on how things play out."

"I know."

With a bow of his head, Jacob left the office and the others to stop upon the porch for a few moments. His eyes watched as the children played with one another and with a dog that a family brought with them. Many people were congregating near the barn and the old bunk house to chat amongst themselves. As he started to approach his horse, he was stopped by a tug on his lower pant leg. He glanced down only to spot bright green eyes looking back to him from a young girl. She wasn't no more than five years old he guessed.

"Yes?" came his voice.

The girl looked up to him still as if studying his face for a moment. "Mister, are you gonna help the new sheriff?"

A faint smile tugged upon his lips. "I reckon I am."

"Thank you, mister." she whispered before being called back by her mother.

As she ran off, Jacob stood stock still. It was the first time someone actually thanked him for doing something that was the right thing to do.

"Damn it, Tenoh. You _did_ rub off on me."

xxxxxxxxxx

Back in town, the people who remained were armed to the teeth and were busy stashing ammunition in various locations they were going to be set up in. A few were still a bit nerved when it came to realizing they could potentially die when the week passed by them. Many were praying that the back up from the military would arrive in order to keep the sacrifices low enough. Nonetheless, the gun fighters all congregated and stood alongside the blonde who had since taken up the position of sheriff. All of them agreed with her line of justice and could not back down from defending their families, friends, rivals, and the town.

The support Haruka had been given thoroughly surprised her to no ends. When she had first come into town and demanded everyone get out for their safety, she had been met with hostility and anger from many people. However, after she explained her reasons, they complied and many decided to back her up. She forced many a man to go with their families in order to leave the town down to the bare minimum of people. She refused to let anyone who didn't feel solid in the situation to remain to die. If their hearts were not in the cause, it was only fair to send them away to protect their families on the ranches instead. No innocent blood would fall while Haruka made her move against the wild gang. History was not going to repeat itself; Haruka was far too stubborn.

As she sat behind the sheriff's desk, she calmly glanced over a few pieces of papers and a few plans she had mapped out a few days before with the forces she had. She had a total of twenty men at her disposal for Jackal's gang arrival. Upon the map, she had laid out where she wanted the sharp shooters to be positioned along with others who demanded to help cover her if things went sour. The blonde had agreed to allow Michiru to cover her from above the saloon roof. It would allow her to have an eagle's eye over the fighting ground in order to pick out any gang member who tried to back up Jackal in the final show. No one was to kill Jackal and Haruka had made that perfectly clear. The leader was going to face the blonde gunslinger and with it, his fate.

"Ruka, you're focusing hard again, aren't you?" murmured a voice.

Haruka glanced up from the papers and smiled faintly upon seeing her lover standing in front of the desk. It seemed Michiru had been busy preparing things for herself as she was sweating a bit more than usual. The dust only seemed to cling to her clothes as well. It had been bad the last few days without any kind of rain.

"I am, however I always have time for you. What's on your mind, Michi?" she asked gently.

Michiru sauntered over only to lean across the desk a bit. Her rifle was only an arms length away against the wall from what Haruka's eyes could tell. She blinked only to have her gaze match the deep ocean blues she had come to care for. Before she could speak, she was caught within another tender kiss from her rifle woman. No matter how many times Haruka would find herself arguing with her over the last few days, Michiru never stopped kissing her. It was something the blonde was rather thankful for.

"Hmm...may I ask what that one was for?" she commented as she finally brought the nerve to draw away from the soft lips.

Michiru smirked a bit and took a seat on the edge of the desk. "For one thing, a reward. You've been working hard on keeping people ready and to keep alive with this whole thing.

"It's my job, Michiru. You know I took it knowing the risks and everyone remaining in town now also know those risks."

"I do. I also know they look to you when they need courage as well. You have no idea of the kind of feelings you evoke in those men."

"Are they good things?" she chuckled before seeing a glare from her lover. "Sorry, couldn't help that one."

"Ruka, they want to see you pull off a miracle to defeat the wild gang. They all believe you can do it, too."

The blonde leaned back upon her chair and allowed her eyes to close. "I'm not a miracle worker, Michi. I'm far from being the embodiment of pure justice."

She wasn't an angel but rather was far from it. Her guns had taken down a total of twenty five men and out of that number, ten had been a part of Jackal's gang. The others had fallen as a result of challenging her to see who was faster. Before she could control it, she'd fire off and the challenger would always be mortally wounded. No, Haruka was no angel but she felt she was more of a demon worthy of taking Lucifer back to hell with her. She did have some innocent blood stained upon her hands that would never go away and she was desperately trying to make sure no more seeped into her skin.

"Ruka, look at me." whispered the rifle woman softly. On reflex, the blonde did as asked only to raise a brow.

Michiru moved around the desk only to take a seat upon Haruka's lap. Her hand softly moved through the blonde locks of hair from her lover. Haruka managed to smile a little before coiling her arms about Michiru's waist lovingly.

"You have to stop being so damn hard on yourself. You've paid for your mistakes so stop blaming yourself for things. Not everyone is as pure as others think. Just let them believe in someone. Someone like you. While you may not feel like your the perfect candidate, you are very fitted for the role. You can argue with me about it later but stop and listen to me."

The sheriff let out a soft sigh before looking her eyes onto her. Michiru had a right to be heard just like anyone else in the given circumstances.

"Haruka, you have been shot and survived through stubbornness only a mule could come to understand and yet you still manage to keep going. While you may not think of yourself to be that much of a justice figure, I disagree. When you first came onto the ranch, a lot of people didn't like you being there but you worked hard to shut them up, didn't you?" she smirked seeing the nod. "With your stubborn will and determination, you won over the ranch hands at the ranch and defended me when it came handling the gang when they tried to get me. You have a knack for doing what's right. Whether you want to admit it or not, you have more moral fiber in you than you think."

Haruka watched her lover's eyes as she spoke. The words sunk into her mind and she eventually looked away. Was she really as grand as Michiru thought? She sure as hell didn't feel like it at the time. She opened her eyes only to catch sight of the red sheriff star she kept on the desk. A bullet hole was through the middle and the metal was a bit burned and blackened around the edges. It had been with her for many years and tucked away within her duster. It was the source of all her hatred, all of her notions of revenge against the gang, and now it stood for those that had lost their lives to that hellish rogue.

"I'll admit, I do what I feel is right, whether it is or isn't in the eye of the law." murmured the blonde after a long few moments of silence.

"Which is why you have the people behind you as you do, Ruka. They won't back down and neither will I. We'll all face the Devil and his demons when the time comes."

_'But whose really the Devil in the end?' _ thought the blonde as she stared out the window. Nothing was as it seemed anymore to her but she knew it would all come down to proper planning, staging, and in the end; her. It all counted on who was faster on the draw and who was more solid in their aim. All the doubts washed through her as she remained sitting in the chair. However, they slowly crept into the back of her mind as Michiru leaned over to kiss her again sweetly.

"I love you, Michi..." came a whispered response.

The rifle woman smiled and stroked her lover's face tenderly. "I love you too, Ruka. I always will."

_'Could you really love a Devil? You're far too pure an Angel to dirty yourself with the likes of me.'_

_

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AN: Hey guys, sorry for not updating recently. I've had trouble finding the inspiration for this chapter for some reason. It just hit me recently so I typed it up and put it up. I hope it's worth the wait. Again, thank you all for reading and reviewing. I appreciate it. ^^  
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	13. Redemption

The end of the month had come to pass as everyone left within the town knew it would. They had prepared themselves well and were now waiting for the gang to ride on into their territory. Many people were perched out of sight upon certain roves while others were hidden within the buildings at high windows to lurk and wait within the cover. There was no need to rush the confrontation and they weren't about to screw up the entire plan. It all rode on how the gang would react to the plans Haruka had laid out. So far, the weather was co-operating as it was sunny and faintly windy as well. The dust did move in small clouds at times through the main road through town. It gave off an added feeling of intensity to what was going through Haruka's mind.

She was sitting in wait within the jail house. The deputy had since fled to the ranch in fear of getting killed and all that remained was the simple amount of clothes Haruka had brought with her. Her gun belt rested around her waist as usual but the silver star that had been given to her was resting upon the top of the desk. It glinted from the light coming in from outside the window for a while. After a while, the sunlight was blocked out by a wall of dust but that wasn't what suddenly made Haruka put her feet upon the floor. The sound of pounding hooves and yelling were inching closer to the town and the blonde slowly closed her eyes and steadied her breathing. She could not rush time nor could she rush herself. That would be willingly giving Jackal time to kill her. Instead, she focused on keeping calm and more soothing thoughts as the sound grew closer.

Outlaws were indeed edging closer to the town in a flurry of angry motions. Jackal rode at the head of the gang and chuckled quite a bit through his tobacco stained teeth. His golden eyes were already watching the scene of the town as they approached it at a quick pace. He was fully intent on killing as many people as he could the minute he dismounted and his feet hit the ground. His men were hungry for blood and wanted to see if the weak people in the town would go through with throwing the woman to the wolves. Jackal had to bet they probably would but he intended to kill either way it went. It was just how he worked after all.

"All right boys, pull out your pistols and let's get moving. I taste blood today!" roared Jackal. His laughter echoed just like the animal he was associated with.

The outlaws began to yell and fire off their pistols as they rode on into the town. They were oblivious that it was all a set up but someone who had a score to settle. All the men focused on was to kill as many people as they could before riding out of town with a bit more money in their pockets than before. Their bullets struck a few windows and also allowed everyone in the town to know their enemy had arrived after the long wait. The gang cackled quite a bit as they worked on dismounting their horses. They were fully intent on standing in the road to call out whoever was in charge. Jackal jumped out of his saddle and allowed his blood stained boots to hit the ground. He could tell something was off in the way the town was deathly silent.

"What's this? We scare off every no good leech outta town? I'll be damned, boys. Looks like no one had the balls to try and handle us. This ain't no fun." he sighed.

One of the men behind Jackal shrugged out his shoulders and moved to stretch out his legs. "Feh, they were a bunch of yella bellied dogs."

The gang laughed a bit and talked amongst themselves for a few moments as their leader walked down the dirt road a bit more. His eyes were scanning every window and every door in order to rule out any kind of snakes. So far, he could detect none as he stood just across from the saloon. He moved a simple hand to remove his ebony hat for a moment. Dusting it off against his leg, he looked around once again before shaking his head.

"Ain't anybody here willing to come out and stand toe to toe with me?" he hollered out. The winds picked up once again and it only allowed for the voice to carry.

The time was upon the towns people. It all weighed down on a pair of shoulders beneath a long black leather duster. With a movement away from the desk and window, Haruka took hold of the crimson star and glanced to it for a moment. She could feel the presence of the people who were long gone and dead because of the gang as she squeezed the metal in her gloved left hand. Closing her eyes for a moment, her hand and fingers brushed the star only to pin it across her right breast. It rested in clean sight against the ebony shirt she wore as well and soon enough, the woman donned the black hat that had hung on the wall for the last five days. She took a deep breath before standing at the door of the jail house. Dipping the brim of her hat down, she masked her eyes and face for the time being as the wind rolled into the street.

"Ya bunch a yella bellied wenches!" growled Jackal furiously. He wanted to fight and no one was around it seemed. That was until he heard something.

The dust rolled in with a thick consistency and made visibility extremely difficult for quite a few minutes. However, through the clouds, he could hear the sound of spurs clinking in front of him somewhere in the distance. It was a distinct _tink tink tink _every few seconds. Glaring into the dust, he bowed his head down to allow the waves of dirt to go right across the hat and out of his eyes while he coughed a bit. Within the shadows, a figure slowly took shape and the other gang members watched in curiosity as it became clearer with each passing minute. The dust settled as a stronger gust of wind pushed the dust right against Haruka's body. The woman stood firm in her boots as the wind rippled her duster and caused her entire black covered body to come into vision to the gang. She kept her head bowed down a bit as her fingers flexed.

Jackal raised a brow before watching the figure for a few moments. "Ha! You're insane to think ya stand a chance against the likes a me, boy." he cackled.

Haruka held her breath and counted slowly to keep herself calm. The very sound of his voice made her want to whip right into the gun fight but she couldn't do that. She had to buy some more time in case the calvary managed to make it. However, she felt it was now or never in the back of her mind. She stayed silent as the gang laughed and started to jeer a little. A few even moved to mount their horses in order to move around to the ranches but that never got that far. Their horses were gone from their posts and they started to growl before glaring toward the lone figure in the street.

"What the fuck you do with our horses?" roared one.

Another twisted his hand to toss his jacket aside only to grasp his gun. "Damn ya, I'll shoot ya full of holes for this! I know you got more people around here than ya. No one man could have moved in that dust like a ghost."

One of the more superstitious members gulped a little and moved backwards away from the black clothed figure. He was spooked and it was very apparent in his brown eyes. His body shook a little as well showing he was completely scared by the idea of the person being of another world.

"I-I-I ain't wantin n-n-no trouble with them s-s-sp-sp-spirits..." he stuttered out. An outlaw to his left turned around to punch some sense into him.

Jackal turned to watch the outlaws moving to beat some sense into the last one that showed fear. He stormed over and grabbed the man by his throat and hoisted him off the ground with his right arm.

His narrowed gold eyes gleamed with a dangerous look. "There ain't no such thing as spirits, ya yella bellied bastard!"

The man shivered in Jackal's grip and closed his eyes tight. "Y-y-yes there a-a-are, Jackal. I-i-it's the spirits of them we all d-done killed."

Jackal punched him and he let out a yelp before looking down. "T-they've come to t-t-take our lives back to hell..." Another punch and the man was left unconscious.

The leader snarled out before dropping the man to the ground without a care for him. Turning on his feet, he glared his eyes around to his men angrily before clutching his hands into solid fists.

"Anyone else scared?" he barked out.

A melody of laughter echoed around the buildings and reached the mens' ears. The gang turned and looked all around trying to find the source of the laughter but they couldn't quite pin point it. It kept drifting around them for another minute before vanishing in the winds.

"It's justa bunch of kids tryin to scare ya all off! Pull yer bloody selves together ya bunch of sissy minded idiots!" growled the leader firmly.

A harsher bit of laughter caught Jackal's attention after he spoke. He turned to look toward the figure in black and growled out darkly toward them. He was already in a foul mood.

"Those of you wishing for a second chance at life should throw down your guns." murmured the figure finally. The men glanced to one another slowly. "I ain't asking twice."

A few of the younger members of the gang who had joined up took the advice and slowly dropped their gun belts to the ground. They didn't feel like dying young after all. Other members of the gang merely growled toward the figure and drew their guns to their hands to show their anger.

"What if we don't?" pipped up one.

The figure chuckled once again. "You'll be goin six feet under."

Another started to laugh only to get glared at. It didn't stop him from speaking. "Like hell. I'll shoot you down simple as sin."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

The warning had been issued but the man held little restraint. He was angry and wanted to prove his worth to his fellow gang members and to impress Jackal. The gun man walked out in front of Jackal and moved to draw his gun. As the hammer on his pistol shifted backward, the sound of a single gun shot rang true. The men around the outlaw watched as he stumbled back a few steps only to fall flat on his face. There was a hole through his head between his eyes. The bullet had hit its mark and rendered the man dead. Blood pooled around him and a bit of brain matter was visible before the dust clouds started to waft through once again. The remaining gang members that stood, slowly began to undo their gun belts no wanting to meet the end of the figure's guns. Jackal glowered at each one of them before the anger he had flooded over.

"What the hell is wrong with the lot of yas? Get them fucking guns back on and fire at the sonuva bitch!" he roared darkly.

A few men moved to stand with him still holding their guns. The majority that had dropped their belts back away from Jackal and the ten men that remained to support their leader. The deserters shook their heads and kept back. All of them knew what Jackal was capable of and his eyes were already on fire with an anger that could not easily be extinguished. Out of reflexes, the outlaws who stood with him drew their guns and attempted to fire off to kill the traitors. However, their gun hands were quickly disabled from gunshots that echoed all around the ghost town. The snipers from the roves hit their marks perfectly and kept out of sight to try and keep the men guessing just how many people were really around. The injured men grabbed at their bleeding wrists and growled out a few streams of curses as they glared all around them.

"God damn em all! How many are here?" they snarled in pain.

Haruka smirked faintly from where she stood. From her point of view, she could see where each person in the buildings had hit their marks and was incredibly thankful they had. If the men that heeded her warning were sincere about it, they would be ready to face their punishment when she could get them wrangled up. They were a smart bunch to keep their distance and move to stand out of the street. All of them remained present and none appeared to be ready to run from the place. The man that had been slugged for being scared of the spirits was also present with the batch. Granted, he was still out cold a few of the others decided eve he deserved not to be left to be subjected to Jackal's wrath.

The air was growing thicker and faintly colder as the blonde turned her green eyes on to the source of all her problems over the years. He looked off balanced as he barked around to his deserters. Maybe they were seeing him for who he truly was? Despite the harsh and deadly persona, Jackal at his core was nothing more than a coward. Haruka could see it in his eyes as he barked out idle threats to those deserting him. The man was internally yellow and rendered simply useless to the role of leader. _'Why the hell am I seeing this now? He's a monster, not a human being!'_ The blonde growled mentally. She couldn't back down from her vows from all those years ago. If she tucked tail and let Jackal go unpunished, how would the sacrificed souls feel? Gritting her teeth together, she closed her eyes tightly and clutched her right hand into a solid fist. Every muscle fiber in her right arm tensed as a sudden realization shot through her mind. _'How can I kill and prove myself to be pure in the end of this duel?'_ Through all the struggling, all the blood shed, she had become an embodiment of Jackal himself. She had allowed herself to morph into the very man she despised. He killed for the enjoyment of it while she had simply killed out of spite and revenge. Nonetheless, it all boiled down to the emotions in which she pulled the trigger of her guns for all those years. Frustration. Fury. Agony. _Revenge_. She wasn't even aware she had allowed herself to escape reality until it was too late.

Jackal had drawn his guns and his sights were set on her lover. The rifle woman took a deep breath before rolling out of her hiding spot behind the saloon sign upon the roof. She was not about to lose Haruka. The blonde had promised her to live, not to get shot down! Deciding to level things and buy her beloved time, she let off a series of shots aimed around Jackal's feet. One successfully penetrated his boot leather and lodged itself into his foot solidly. He let out a restricted set of grunts and hellish yelps which was enough to snap Haruka out of her reverie. The gun man's sights shifted to return fire to the rifle woman who he could spot from above. His guns went off a number of three times.

"Michiru!" Haruka felt her throat tighten. How could she have slipped up and allowed the only reason she was sane to get hurt?

Without hearing a response from her lover, Haruka's emerald eyes narrowed. Her feet turned and she tossed the sides of her long coat behind the forms of her twin pistols. Pure unadulterated wrath seethed off the black clothed woman enough to scare the men who stood with Jackal. They backed away slowly from the figure noticing finally that it was really a woman and in fact, not a man. All they could sense was whoever the person was, they were the embodiment of the Devil himself and they didn't wish to burn in hell.

"Look at me, Jackal!" roared Haruka. The very sound of her voice was demonic as she struggled to keep herself from going berserk.

The lone gun turned and limped on his wounded left foot. His eyes narrowed upon spotting the woman whose guns were clearly visible. The pearl handles looked vaguely familiar to him. However, his eyes didn't linger long on them as they flickered to the one thing that stood in his memory. Upon the woman's chest was something he could never forget the sight of for as long as he lived.

He felt his voice struggle to escape from his drying throat. In a raspy voice, he finally spat it out. "The _Crimson Star_!"

"I see you remember it. You're not as dense as I assumed you were." came a seething reply.

"I couldn't forget the first Marshall kill I took down. The man was a weakling and blind by virtues of justice. He was sadly mistaken that he stood a chance against the Devil."

"You're wrong, a yellow coward _pretending_ to be the Devil did."

"How would you know, woman? I am the Devil. I breath in smoke and spit out ash. I kill without remorse and devour the innocence to continue thriving in this crime filled world."

"You kill to keep yourself from realizing your mortality. The lives you've taken over the last ten years have not gone in vain at all. The true Devil is the one that picked up a set of guns with nothing in their heart but the sense of pure vengeance. They wouldn't realize they were tossing aside their innocence until it was too late."

"Such poetic words coming from such a little girl. You're quivering. Must be spooked by me after all, runt."

Haruka struggled to keep her hands steady and her shoulders from shivering any longer. It wasn't easy.

"Then truly, who do you deem the Devil?" Jackal inquired with a sneer.

Her body stopped shaking. The question made her adrenaline flow to overpower her nerves. Everything went numb. "The one who will take your soul."

Jackal laughed and quickly moved his hands to fire off his guns. A bullet pierced through Haruka's right shoulder making her wince. She forced the pain away from her mind and focused on the gun man. In response, she fired off two shots with her left hand. The aim was true as Jackal's guns fell from his hands and were quickly doused in blood. A merciless amount of screams hit the air as a result but Haruka didn't care. She holstered her gun and moved a hand to the sheriff star on her chest. Her blood had washed over the emblem and she grimaced in an attempt to move her arm. It was left slack and hanging along her right side as she approached Jackal and closed the distance standing between them.

Haruka's men poured out of their hiding spots wondering what exactly happened. They vision had been blurred by a dust tornado that had blocked everyone's sight of what had happened. All of them were holding their breath wondering just who was left standing. As the dust settled, they felt their hearts pounding even harder and they desperately clutched onto their fire arms in hope. Then they saw it was Haruka who stood but they dared not make a sound as she stepped in front of the fallen Jackal.

"Go ahead...you know you wanna do it." growled Jackal's voice. He was in fact not dead but left crippled.

The bullets had shattered his hands and gone clean through them. The blood poured from the open wounds and coated the majority of his pant legs as he sat upon his knees in the dirt. His golden eyes gleamed dangerous as he felt cold steel press against his forehead. The Devil within him couldn't stop it's taunting manner of forming a sick smile upon his lips to his judgment. He watched Haruka pull back the hammer of the pistol and started to laugh at her face. The man knew he was going to die within the next few seconds. It was there as clear as day within the jade eyes that stared him down.

"Do it!" he barked after what felt like eternity.

Nothing happened. Those eyes wouldn't stop boring into his soul. He could feel the woman picking apart his carefully crafted walls.

"Fucking shot me, damn it!"

Again, no response from the one holding the gun to his head. His body slowly began to quiver. A flood of emotions over took his body as the thought of living as a cripple caught his attention. There was no way he was going to let her see him crack completely. In desperation, he motioned to grab his gun in a severely damaged hand. He never felt the gun leave his forehead but he did feel the sudden weight of a heel dig into his injured hand forcing him to cry out like a child.

"Grah! Fuck you! Fuck you all! Put me out of my misery, you sonuva bitch!" he wailed out.

Haruka dug her boot heel harder against his hand, crushing the shattered bone fragments a bit more behind the tender flesh. Hearing his sorrowful cries of agony was like music to her ears. It was what the restless spirits wanted to hear after all. A simple ending would not have appealed to them and it was that when she realized it wasn't worth a bullet. The barrel of the gun was removed from Jackal's head and returned into the black leather holster it belonged in.

Her voice was firm and cold as she looked onto the pathetic shell of a supposed Devil. "No. I won't give you the satisfaction."

He looked up as his eyes pleaded with her. "W-w-why? Why must you humiliate me?"

"I didn't humiliate you. You did that on your own by deciding to be the Devil."

"I-I'm not the D-d-devil. I never was! Surely to do this to a man is truly the act of the real Devil!" he wailed.

Haruka shook her head smoothly. "No, it's not."

"Then what is _it_?"

The woman turned her back on Jackal and started to walk away to where she had last seen Michiru. The dust had blocked her view of what happened when the bullets went flying. She only hoped she was all right. Despite the pain in her shoulder, she wasn't going to rest until she saw her lover was safe. Of course, it didn't take long for the aqua haired woman to appear with a hand on her torso. She had been hit and it made Haruka's face blanch for a moment. The woman she cared for had been hurt after all but that wave of pure terror washed away as quickly as it had appeared. Michiru moved to hold Haruka within her arms and was careful of her shoulder as she held her close.

"It went clean through. I'll be fine, Ruka." came the sweet voice.

Haruka felt her blood go warm once more as a smile tugged at her lips. "Thank God..."

She gently moved to look into blue eyes and tenderly placed a kiss to Michiru's soft lips. They were both injured but they would survive. That was all that mattered to the blonde gunslinger as she stood in silence with the woman she loved. Of course, the silence didn't last long as Jackal's pitiful cries echoed around the town. Haruka's men swarmed the armed outlaws and quickly disarmed them and made due with tying their hands up with ropes. They left Jackal kneeling in the dirt to wail his guts out like the cursed animal he was named after. After a few minutes, Haruka drew away from Michiru and looked back to Jackal.

"You asked me what it was, didn't you, Jackal?" she asked calmly.

He cried nodding his head. The tears streamed down his face and mixed with the dirt on his cheeks. Haruka took a moment to feel highly amused before growing serious again.

"It's the act of mercy and a gunslinger's moment of redemption. God has mercy for _every_ soul on earth; I don't. Nonetheless, I leave you crippled because of something more meaningful to me. If I had shot you, I would have lost everything I have gained with just a single motion of a well aimed bullet. The monster would have taken all of my humanity with him in his death and complete the transition. With my humanity gone, I would have become the very monster I swore to kill in the first place." she murmured gently.

"You deserve to be a monster, you demonic woman. You force me to suffer and I can't even take my own life!" spat Jackal.

Haruka blinked before feeling an arm move around her waist. Michiru stood alongside her and glared down to Jackal angrily. "She is not a monster. Haruka is an angel."

"Michi..." The blonde couldn't believe the words coming out of her lover's mouth. "I'm no ang-"

"She lost her way because of you clouding all her thoughts. By sparing your life as she has, she fought the darkness in her soul to be forgiven for her past crimes."

Jackal spat out toward Michiru. "Bullshit! No one can face their fears alone." he snarled out.

Haruka laughed calmly before watching the pathetic sight in front of her. "I was never alone. I had the memories of those that had fallen because of your doing, Jackal. However, there was something far more powerful on my side." She sent a look toward Michiru and her eyes softened on the woman she loved. "I had an angel pull me out of the depths of hell. I was saved because of the love of this woman, Jackal. Something you will never come to understand."

Having said her piece, Haruka watched as the people who stood behind her cheered in victory. They had won against the gang and stopped them from claiming anymore lives. With a soft sigh, the blonde shook her head and watched as Michiru softly took a look to her injured shoulder. She winced faintly feeling the touch but soon relaxed. The lovers moved to be seen by Mamoru who was standing outside the door of his office on the porch. He stood with a rifle in hand and merely sighed seeing the shape Haruka was in. Somehow, she had managed to surprise him in the end with her decision to let Jackal live after all.

"I never imagined you to be compassionate to _him_ of all people, Tenoh." he murmured watching her walk up the steps.

She looked up to him calmly and shrugged only to curse out from the pain in her wound.

Michiru swatted the back of the blonde's head smoothly. "You know better than to do that, smart ass. Now, get inside and take that shirt of yours off this instant!"

"All right, all right. You win, Michi."

"I always do with you, Ruka."

The two women vanished behind the door into the doctor's office leaving him alone. Mamoru ran a hand through his short ebony hair for a moment. Everything had all boiled down to faith of one woman in another. He was extremely surprised to have witnessed what had happened. His jaw still felt like it had unhinged but he shrugged it off as a miracle that had all to do with one person. Michiru Kaioh. She was in fact the true miracle worker to have pulled Haruka out of the depths and into the light. He started to laugh faintly only to notice in the distance the faint sound of rumbling horses and the trumpet tune of the calvary.

"They will handle the dirty work for you, Tenoh, but I think you already knew that. You have no idea just how close you came to falling past the point of no return." he murmured to himself softly.

The faint sound of Michiru bickering with Haruka to stop being so stubborn reached his ears. Haruka seemed to be whining around the pain and he couldn't help but rest his palm against his forehead.

"She really is your savior. No one else would _tolerate_ your sorry ass." he chuckled.

* * *

_AN: Well folks, that's the end. I hope you all enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it._


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